by Dr. David J Holbrook

This is the first of a three-part series of articles exploring how schools and school districts can use Title I, Part A funds to provide services to English learners (ELs). This article focuses on grants for School Support and Improvement. Future articles will explore two other ways Title I, Part A funds can be used to support ELs.

Understanding School Support and Improvement Grants

School Support and Improvement (SSI) grants are separate from the typical Title I, Part A grants made to local education agencies (LEAs) to implement Title I programs in eligible schools. This is because this pot of Title I, Part A funds is established separately, before States send Title I funding to LEAs. In Title I, Section 1003, States are required to reserve (set aside) 7% of their total Title I, Part A funds to provide separate grants to LEAs for schools identified for SSI. Some States provide these funds to LEAs using a formula while others use a competition, which requires LEAs to submit applications, which are then scored. The highest scoring applications receive grants.

How Schools Are Identified for Support

Schools are identified for SSI based on their performance against accountability measures. States are required to establish long-term goals and interim measures of progress for each of the five accountability indicators found in Sec. 1111(c)(4)(B). States calculate each school’s progress toward meeting these targets and notify LEAs when schools in their district are identified for SSI. Schools can be identified for SSI if either the all-students group, or one or more of the individual student groups (sometimes called subgroups, like the EL student group) fail to meet accountability targets.

A Major Shift Under ESSA

One of the accountability indicators is specific to ELs only, English learner progress toward English proficiency (Sec. 1111(c)(4)(B)(iv)). Previously, accountability for English language acquisition was only found in Title III. That changed with the passage of ESSA, which removed all accountability measures for ELs from Title III and placed it in Title I. Now, accountability for EL progress toward English proficiency and EL academic achievement is only found in Title I.

Other accountability indicators include, academic performance, academic growth, graduation rates and a measure of school quality or student success. Accountability indicators are disaggregated (measured separately) for each student group, including ELs. This means that academic performance, academic growth, and graduation rates for ELs must be measured separately and used in identifying schools for SSI. 

CSI, TSI, and ATSI: What the Designations Mean

Schools may be identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) if the all-students group fails to meet accountability targets. Schools may also be identified for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) if one or more student group fails to meet accountability targets even if the all-students group meets targets.

Schools identified for CSI must develop an improvement plan that address the reasons why the school was identified based on accountability indicators for the all-students group and separately for each student group. This means that if the EL student group is not meeting targets (for any accountability indicator), this must be addressed in a CSI school improvement plan. SSI grant funds received in those schools can then be used to support ELs to help them meet the accountability targets they failed to meet.

Schools may be identified for TSI or ATSI based solely on the performance of the EL student group. TSI and ATSI schools must also develop an improvement plan to address the reasons for the student group’s failure to meet targets. In this case, whether it’s for the EL student group’s failure to meet targets for progress toward English proficiency, academic achievement, academic growth, or graduation rates, SSI grant funds must be used to address the reasons the EL student group failed to meet accountability targets.

Why This Matters for English Learners

This is huge! The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed in 1965. The ESEA has been amended by other Acts multiple times, including most recently, the Improving Americas Schools Act (IASA) of 1992 and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, but it wasn’t until the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 (50 years after ESEA was first passed) where school improvement funds were made available to support the English learner student group when that group fails to meet accountability targets.