Welcome Charter LEAs!

 Background Basics

What is a Title I School?

Any school that receives Title I funds becomes a Title I school. If a charter LEA has multiple sites, the LEA must use a common measure to rank the sites from highest to lowest poverty percentage to determine the distribution of the Title I allocation.

Federal Law

In Arizona, geographically-defined school districts and many charter schools are designated as LEAs. Title I is the largest program under ESEA (Elementary and Secondary School Act) and provides resources that are designed to help ensure that all students meet challenging state academic standards. Title II provides LEAs with resources that support professional learning.

How does Title I & Title II help my Charter LEA?

Schools that receive Title I funds can develop and implement supports and interventions that supplement the regular instructional program of the school. The needs of students who are struggling in the regular education environment may be addressed with strategies, such as additional instructional time, smaller group or individual instruction, or alternate instructional approaches. Title I funds are also used to support the parents of struggling students, so they can become partners with the school to meet their child’s educational needs. For the teachers and staff at the school, Title I and Title II funds can be used to provide professional learning opportunities that improve instructional practices, especially when teaching struggling students.

Eligibility Information?

In order to receive Basic Title I funding, an LEA must have at least 10 students (ages 5-17) from families in Census poverty and that must be at least 2% of the LEA’s student population. Charter schools that are considered separate LEAs may qualify, regardless of whether they are a single school site or operate like a school district with multiple sites. The Title I formula uses additional poverty thresholds to determine eligibility for portions of the funding an LEA receives. All LEAs within Arizona can qualify for Title II funding using a weighted formula based on poverty and student population.

 How are allocations determined?

Congress has designed a complex process that begins with poverty distribution data from the US Census. Using the eligible child Census poverty counts and some additional non-Census data, the US Department of Education (ED) allocates the total Title I appropriation to all geographic districts in each state.

Because charter schools in Arizona lack boundaries, there is no direct Census poverty data available. ADE has developed procedures that use data entered into AzEDS to derive an estimated poverty count that is equivalent to Census data received from the ED for all of geographic Arizona’s school districts. Any charter or other special district not included in ED’s file that is eligible for Title I funds is added to the overall allocation file by redistributing funds proportionately.

What are common expenditures when Utilizing Title I & Title II Funding?

Title I/II funds are intended to supplement the current instructional program. Common expenditures may include but not limited to:

•  Staff and teacher professional development
• Summer school & intersession academic activities
• Before and after school tutoring
•  Supplemental instructional materials and software
•  Support for students experiencing homelessness
•  Parent and community involvement activities
•  Academic & social emotional interventions
•  Staff retention and recruitment stipends

Basic Program Requirements

• Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) for the school site(s) only
• Root Cause Analysis (fishbones -3 per school)
• LEA Integrated Action Plan (LIAP)
• School(s) Integrated Action Plan (SIAP)
• Completed Application in the GME System

Based on the application, LEAs may be required to complete a brief phone interview, and three training sessions:

• Mandatory Charter Training (MCT) #1 which is the introduction to Title I/II documents and programmatic planning tools
• MCT #2 which the is the fiscal part of the Title I/II application process including the grant writing and how all the pages in the application interact with one another.
• MCT #3 which is the compliance part of the Title I/II program.

Program Models

Title I programs consist of supplemental instructional support and intervention programs, professional learning opportunities for teachers and administrators, and a family and community engagement program. There are two models – Targeted Assistance and Schoolwide. All Arizona Charter LEAs begin with a Targeted Assistance program and may transition to Schoolwide in year two based on whether the school meets the 40% poverty threshold, along with other criteria. The LEA receives the same amount of funding whether they choose to operate a Schoolwide program or remain a Targeted Assistance school.

What is the Title I Targeted Assistance program?

Regardless of poverty percentage, Charter schools in their first year of operation, must maintain a Targeted Assistance model.

Targeted Assistance programs can be operated in any Title I school. The IAP for a Targeted Assistance program describes how the school will support the academic achievement of its most at-risk students which are identified through specific criteria. This criterion is then used to rank students in relation to expected academic growth. Those students that are the lowest achieving are “targeted” to participate in supplemental intervention programs in addition to regular classroom instruction.

Title I Targeted Assistance program funds also provide professional development for teachers and other staff that work directly with the intervention program, and family and community engagement activities for parents of Title I students.

What is the Title I Schoolwide program?

A Charter school that meets the 40% poverty threshold may engage in the schoolwide planning process and transition to a Schoolwide program after its first successful year implementing a Title I Targeted Assistance Program.

A Title I Schoolwide program is designed to upgrade the entire educational program through a well-rounded environment to ensure all students – especially those considered most academically at-risk – can attain academic proficiency. The Schoolwide model, when fully implemented, permits resource alignment to serve the entire school, staff and parents.

NEW Charter LEA

Explanation of When to Select this Form: New Charter LEAs are not yet open and are applying for their new LEA in the coming fiscal year.

• NEW Application Form
• Timeline for New Charters

EXPANDING Charter LEA

Explanation of When to Select this Form:

34 C.F.R. §76.787 Defines significant expansion of enrollment as: “substantial increase in the number of students attending a charter school due to a significant event that is unlikely to occur on a regular basis, such as the addition of one or more grades or educational programs in major curriculum areas."

•  Addition of one or more grades
• Addition of a new site under the same Charter LEA
• Addition of an educational program in major curriculum areas
  • EXPANDING Application Form
  • Timeline for Expanding Charter

ESTABLISHED Charter LEA

Explanation of When to Select this Form:

LEAs currently open and serving students should use this form. 

• ESTABLISHED Application Form
• Timeline for Established Charters

*Please note that if an established LEA misses the deadline, they may remit the form later in the year and follow the timeline for the New Charter LEAs.

Helpful Resources

• Grants Management Enterprise (GME)
• Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.) subtitle B of Title VII
• Planning Tool Navigator

 New & Expanding Inbox

New&[email protected] Phone: (602) 364-1958

New & Expanding Staff Members at ADE

[email protected] Educator & School Excellence Program Specialist New & Expanding Charters (602) 364-3552

[email protected] Educator & School Excellence Program Specialist New & Expanding Charters (602) 542-0412