1. Title 1 Open House/Parent Meeting September 23, 2015

2. What is Title 1? Title 1 is the nation’s oldest and largest federally funded program, according to the U.S. Department of Education Originally, the idea of Title 1 was enacted in 1965 under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This policy committed to closing the achievement gap between low-income students and other students. The policy was rewritten in 1994 to improve fundamental goals of helping at-risk students. With the implementation of No Child Left Behind, schools must make adequate yearly progress on state testing and focus on best teaching practices in order to avoid funding reallocation. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the purpose of Title 1 funding, “is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education and reach, at minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.”

3. Focus Provide direct, intensive, individualized, consistent, and research-based interventions to students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 district wide. Administer diagnostic assessments to Tier 2 and Tier 3 students to determine target areas of need Progress monitor Tier 2 students once a month and Tier 3 students every two weeks to determine growth Maintain student portfolios containing assessment data

4. Guide monthly RTI meetings to analyze student data, growth, and areas of need Guide quarterly Grade Level/Department meetings to implement best practices consistently district wide and provide professional development, mentoring, and training opportunities Provide support and modeling opportunities for classroom teachers Provide parent/community involvement opportunities

5. How Do Students Qualify? AIMS Web is used as a benchmark assessment on all students in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Students that fall below the 25 th % on benchmark assessments qualify for Title services.

6. What Happens Next? Students that qualify for Title services are given diagnostic assessments to better target needed interventions. Fountas & Pinnell: Tests foundational reading skills, independent & instructional reading level, and comprehension Words Their Way Spelling Inventory: Helps determine each student’s developmental spelling stage Moby Max: Targets areas where students are struggling in math and determines grade level equivalent “All effective instruction begins with assessment that tells us what students know, what they’re missing, or what they’re using incorrectly.” WTW/Pearson

7. Support Curriculum Direct, Individualized, and Research- based Interventions Consistency District Wide Diagnostic Assessments Professional Development Opportunities Parent/Community Involvement Title 1 Parent Open House/Meetings Family Reading Night Read Across America Technology Night Monthly data meetings to determine student growth or need for additional interventions Grade Level/Department Quarterly Meetings

8. K-2 Words Their Way: Word study approach, individualized plan for each student, word sort working on a particular skill that can be applied to all words. Jolly Phonics: Fun and child centered approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics, multi-sensory method Michael Heggerty: An auditory training process, phonemic awareness Beanie Baby Strategies: Teaches decoding and comprehension strategies in a fun & memorable way 3-5 Dolch Words/Heart Words: The most common 220 words and 95 nouns encountered in children’s books, critical in early reading development because they represent high-frequency words and are difficult to sound out or to illustrate. Frye Phrases: Contain the most used words in reading and writing, It is important for young readers to instantly recognize these words by sight in order to build up their reading fluency Comprehension Passages: To practice reading and responding to text Leveled Readers: Students are taught at their instructional reading levelLiteracy

9. Touch Math: Supplemental, multisensory program that uses “TouchPoints” to engage students of all abilities and learning styles Rocket Math: Supplemental, math facts practice curriculum, uniquely structured curriculum for the sequential practice and mastery of math facts. Moby Max: Adaptive curriculum creates a unique, individualized education plan for each student, built from the ground up on Common Core standards. Math

10. We Need Your Help District/School Parent Involvement Policies Parent Meetings Family Reading Night Curriculum Nights Parent/Teacher Conferences

11. 1. To annually increase the number of students meeting or exceeding district norms on benchmark assessments by 3-5%. 2. To implement diagnostic assessments to better target interventions. 3. To provide direct and consistent interventions district wide. 4. To organize quarterly grade level/department meetings to increase collaboration and consistency with curriculum, instruction, and assessments. 5. To increase parent/community involvement opportunities.

12. Link To District Goals & Mission “To cultivate students’ abilities to live well as functioning members of society; informed citizens of our community, our country, and the world; responsible members of families; and self- directed, lifelong learners.”  Utilizing data to drive curriculum, instruction, and assessments  Increasing community relations through parent/community involvement opportunities  Staff communication and collaboration is increased  Equalizing and increasing remedial and enrichment opportunities for students.

13. Your Title1 Team We are really excited about having the opportunity to work with your child! We have a great team in place and are confident in the interventions we are using. We can’t wait to watch your child grow in learning! Angie Merboth Title Director, Serena CUSD 2 Betsy Dolder Title Aide, Sheridan April Kaforski Title Aide, Harding Pat Entwistle Title Aide, Serena

14. Angie Merboth Title Director Serena CUSD 2 815-496-2850, ext. 4118 amerboth@unit2.net *Visit our website for more information unit2.net (District/Interventions)