Since it began more than 25 years ago, the federal Title I program has had one overarching goal: to give disadvantaged students--and the schools that serve them--extra resources to help them succeed. While the specifics of the law--and even the name--have changed over the years, the focus on the neediest students hasn't.

One element of the law, however, has shifted over time. At first, it was assumed that Title I resources and staff should be targeted toward individual students, even if most of the youngsters in a school were equally disadvantaged. That meant more "pull-out" programs, often staffed by paraprofessionals, that took students away from the regular classes for remedial instruction. Today, by contrast, the emphasis in Title I has changed to the point where the extra federal funds that districts receive are focused more on improving a school's overall program.

The latest version of Title I, renewed as part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, states that schools in which at least 40 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch may become schoolwide projects. In other words, virtually every school in most U.S. urban districts could be schoolwide projects. But the paraprofessionals and other staff who work in those buildings are sometimes unaware of their school's Title I status. (See the charts at left.)

The move toward more schoolwide projects makes sense at a time when new standards, assessments and accountability systems are being used to reward or sanction whole schools based on how their students perform. The best schoolwide

projects use the extra funds that come from Title I--money that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars--on the things that have been proven to work: research-based programs, especially in early reading; small-group and individual instruction for students who need extra help; ample professional development for all staff; and parent involvement and family support so that families can help their own children succeed. PSRPs, and especially paraprofessionals, can and should play key roles in all of these areas.

Whole-school models

Established schoolwide reform models such as Success for All and Direct Instruction are an understandably popular choice for many Title I schools. They feature existing materials and methods, so schools don't have to start from scratch, and they boast a solid record of success. (The AFT has endorsed them as high-quality programs.) When the AFT's PSRP program and policy council visited schools in the Reno, Nev., area during its meeting there in January, one of the stops was a Success for All school. At Anderson Elementary, the AFT leaders observed one hallmark of the program in many schools: paraprofessionals working one on one with students, especially the younger ones just beginning to sound out words and learn to read.

At Reno's Anderson Elementary, paraprofessional Linda Williams tutors students as part of the school's Success for All program. [AFT Photo]

Success for All puts its primary emphasis on reading, with a full 90 minutes a day spent on the topic. And that doesn't count the extra 20 minutes the paraprofessionals spend with some students. "This really makes a difference for the kids," says Linda Williams, a paraprofessional at the school, where staff are represented by the Nevada Classified School Employees Association. "Each time we do the eight-week assessment [an important feature of the program], we see a lot of growth in the kids."

Students who show adequate progress no longer receive tutoring, while a new group might get services during the next eight-week segment. Obviously, the paraprofessionals who do the tutoring need sufficient training, especially if they're helping struggling students. "We need to have that training so we're effective and so we can incorporate what the teachers need us to do with these students," Williams says.

While the intense focus on reading and literacy is characteristic of Success for All, the program and others like it acknowledge the importance of a family support component. Anderson Elementary, for example, has a parent resource center open throughout the day. Parents can learn how to help their children with homework, get assistance with non-academic concerns or find resources on a range of issues. In addition, paraprofessionals help with after-school programs.

Across the country at Westside Elementary School in Daytona, Fla.--another Title I schoolwide project--students get a similar immersion in reading instruction, but in their case, through Direct Instruction. As with Success for All, well-trained paraprofessionals run their own reading groups in Direct Instruction; this helps break the students into small groups based on their achievement levels. Paraprofessionals like Doris Mitchner lead their students through the intense, fast-paced, highly structured program. A member of the AFT-affiliated Volusia Educational Support Association, Mitchner works with anywhere from three to 12 students.

The program at Westside was prompted by concerns about student performance from local religious leaders, who approached the district superintendent about adopting Direct Instruction. Before it was introduced, staff completed intensive summer training, and they also receive ongoing coaching during the year. Mitchner is a big fan of the program, now in its second year at the school. "I'm noticing that the self-esteem of the students is tremendous," she says. "I'm not hearing, 'I can't read' anymore; I'm hearing, 'I want to read.'" While some teachers at the school were suspicious of a program that takes away some of their flexibility, "I think they're being won over by the fact that we're seeing improvement in students' reading," Williams says.
 

Technological tools

The extra resources Title I brings to a school can also support innovative programs such as a music laboratory at Westside that exposes even kindergartners to keyboarding and music instruction. Paraprofessional David Solomon runs the lab, which students attend a total of about an hour per week. "Most of the kids really enjoy it," he says. "Some of them don't want to leave when it's over."

In addition to the pleasure and accomplishment of playing music, the idea behind the lab is that learning music should also help students perform better in other academic areas. For one thing, Solomon notes, when he gets them working with both hands at a time, it gets both sides of their brains working, as well. The feedback he receives from parents is overwhelmingly positive, and some have been inspired to enroll their kids in private piano lessons. "A lot of these kids are very talented," Solomon says. "They just need somebody to give them the right guidance. You give them a push, and that's what they need."

While Solomon's music lab is somewhat unusual, Title I funds commonly are used for more traditional computer labs--both to buy the equipment and to pay the paraprofessionals who often run the lab. One computer lab paraprofessional is Wanda Dew at Baltimore's James Mosher Elementary School. Dew, who also serves on the executive board of the AFT-affiliated Baltimore Teachers Union paraprofessional chapter, spends about half her day working with students from throughout the school on computer-based assignments designed to reinforce what they're learning in their classrooms.

With an extensive collection of software and other resources at her disposal, Dew consults classroom teachers about what the students are working on. She usually starts with a "mini-lesson" to introduce the skill or topic, then she monitors students' progress as they work on their own.

"These programs work a lot better for our students in reinforcing their skills" than online resources, she comments. "The Internet is OK for research, but it doesn't give them the experience" of working on problems directly related to their classroom curriculum.

Whether running a computer lab like Dew's or leading a Direct Instruction reading group like Mitchner's, the work of PSRPs contributes to that same long-standing goal of Title I: improving student achievement. Schoolwide projects can help focus all of a school's resources on making that happen. Seeing those results is what keeps the staff in these programs so committed. As Doris Mitchner puts it, "I'm happy to be a part of this and see the gains the students are making. That's what it's all about--seeing the kids blossom and grow."