Title I SIFI Level 5 Resource

District and School Requirements for Title I Schools Identified for Improvement (SIFI) Level 5 (Restructuring Status) — Schools that Missed Adequate Yearly Progress for six years in the same indicator (reading, mathematics, test participation, or attendance/graduation)

Adapted from No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Section 1116.

Charter School Authorizers should refer to page 10 of the Authorizer and Charter School Accountability Handbook for additional information.

Requirements for Title I SIFIs Level 5 (Restructuring Status) are as follows:

Set Aside Title I, Part A Funds
Notify Parents
Provide Public School Choice
Provide Supplemental Educational Services
Implement the Restructing Plan

Technical assistance from the district is imperative and implicit in the concept of restructuring, even though it is not explicitly required under the statute. The technical assistance provided to a school being restructured should focus on helping the school make substantive and significant changes in approaches to teaching and learning by emphasizing the use of student achievement data and research to inform instructional strategies. Additionally, the assistance should help the school with budget allocation, professional development for principals and teachers, and other strategies necessary to ensure the restructuring plan is implemented and sustained in the future (LEA and School Improvement Non-Regulatory Guidance, July 21, 2006).

I. Set Aside Title I, Part A funds

The district shall:

Set aside up to 20 percent of the district’s Title I allocation from which the district shall spend an amount equal to:

5 percent to pay for transportation for students electing to transfer to another public school
5 percent to provide supplemental educational services (SES); and
10 percent for transportation for students electing to transfer to another public school and SES or both.

Meet at a minimum, the following criteria:

Partner, to the extent practicable, with outside groups to help inform students and parents of the opportunities to transfer to another public school or receive SES;
Ensure that students and their parents have had a genuine opportunity to sign up to transfer to another school or obtain SES by:

Providing timely, accurate notice to parents;
Ensuring that sign-up forms are made widely available and accessible and that they have been distributed directly to all eligible students and their parents; and
Providing a minimum of two enrollment “windows,” at separate points in the school year, that are of sufficient length to enable parents of eligible students to make informed decisions about requesting SES and selecting an SES provider.

Ensure that SES providers are given access to school facilities on the same terms as are available to other groups that seek to use school facilities;
Maintain records demonstrating that the district has met these criteria and has notified the DPI that it has met the criteria; and
Inform the DPI of the amount of funds remaining from the 20 percent obligation that it intends to spend on other allowable activities.

II. Notify Parents

The school shall inform parents of the school’s improvement status and include the following items in a parent notification letter (see sample letter):

Explanation of what the identification means;
Reasons for the identification;
How the school compares with other schools in the district and the state in terms of academic achievement;
What the school is doing to address low achievement;
What the district and state will do to help the school;
How parents can become involved in helping the school improve academically; and
Options for parents to transfer students to another public school within the district, which may include transportation by the district.

The district must ensure that parent notification letters are sent at least fourteen days before the start of the school year and are in a format that that parents can understand.

III. Provide Public School Choice

The district is required to provide students an option to transfer to another public school, served by the district and send parents a letter of notification (see sample letter). The district shall:

Ensure that public school choice letters are sent to parents at least fourteen days before the start of the school year and are in a format that parents can understand;
Provide students the option to transfer to another public school served by the district, which may include a public charter school that has not been identified for school improvement;
Post on the district’s website, in a timely manner, the following information:

The number of students who participated in public school choice, beginning with data from the 2007-2008 school year and for each subsequent year; and
A list of available schools to which students eligible for public school choice may transfer for the current school year.

IV. Provide Supplemental Educational Services

The district must offer Supplemental Educational Services (SES) that are tutoring programs designed to improve the academic performance of students in Title I SIFIs. Priority must be given to the lowest-achieving children whenever funds are insufficient to meet the requests of all eligible children and their parents. For SES, the district shall:

Provide information about the availability of SES that is clear and in an understandable format, to the extent practicable. This letter must be clearly distinguishable from other school-related information that parents receive. This SES letter must:

Explain how parents can obtain SES for their child;
Identify each approved SES provider within the district or in its general geographic location, including providers that are accessible through technology, such as distance learning;
Provide a brief description of the services, qualifications, and demonstrated effectiveness of each provider;
Indicate providers that are able to serve students with disabilities or LEP students; and
Include an explanation of the benefits of receiving SES.

Post on the district's website, in a timely manner, the following information:

The number of students who were eligible for and who participated in SES, beginning with data from the 2007-2008 school year and for each subsequent year; and
A list of SES providers approved to serve the district, as well as the locations where SES are provided for the current school year.

If requested, assist parents in choosing a provider.
Apply fair and equitable procedures for serving students if the number of spaces at approved providers is not sufficient to serve all students.
Not disclose to the public the identity of any student who is eligible for, or receiving, SES without the written permission of the parents of the student.
Enter into an agreement with the approved provider selected by the parent(s). Such an agreement shall:

Require the district to develop in consultation with parents (and the provider chosen by the parents), a statement of specific achievement goals for the student, how the student progress will be measured, and a timetable for improving achievement that, in the case of a student with disabilities, is consistent with the student’s individualized education program under section 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
Describe how the student’s parents and the student’s teacher or teachers will be regularly informed of the student’s progress;
Provide for the termination of such agreement if the provider is unable to meet such goals and timetables;
Contain provisions with respect to the making of payments to the provider by the district; and
Prohibit the provider from disclosing to the public the identity of any student who is eligible for, or receiving, SES without the written permission of the parents.

V. Implement the Restructuring Plan

By the beginning of the next school year, the district shall implement one of the the following alternative governance arrangements for the school consistent with state law:

Reopen the school as a public charter school;
Replace all or most of the school staff (which may include the principal) who are relevant to the failure to make adequate yearly progress;
Enter into a contract with an entity, such as a private management company, with a demonstrated record of effectiveness, to operate the public school;
Turn the operation of the school over to the state; or
Any other major restructruring of the school's governance arrangement that makes fundamental reforms, such as significant changes in the school's staffing and governance, to improve student academic achievement in the school and that has substantial promise of enabling the school to make adequate yearly progress as defined in the state.

For questions about this information, contact your district's Title I Education Consultant

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Last updated on 3/14/2011 10:54:34 AM

Title I Schools Identified for Improvement (SIFI) Level 5 Requirements