About The Program
The Sudbury Public Schools has, over the past four years, been awarded Title One funding. This federal grant, as reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), provides resources to local school districts to help students meet the state and local challenging academic standards. Title One has been a national program for over 60 years, but only recently has Sudbury been eligible.
The focus of Sudbury's program has been to provide instructional support services in mathematics at the Loring and Haynes Elementary Schools and the Curtis Middle School. These schools were ultimately selected through a combination of census and demographic data. Available funding for the school year 2007 - 2008 is approximately $86,000.
Staff at each of the Title One schools collaborate to identify students who, through teacher recommendation and other assessment strategies, are likely to benefit from the additional help. Sudbury uses the Stanford Diagnostic Math Assessments to help identify Title One candidates. About 75 students district-wide are serviced each year. Title One teachers and tutors need to be "highly qualified" by all state and federal standards and we are excited about their capacity and eagerness to deliver excellent, well targeted instructional services.
Title One Parent Information Meetings are conducted in each school early in the year to provide additional information on the program, to discuss the parents' role in improving their children's achievement, and to gather input on the program's development and delivery. The NCLB Act further requires school districts that receive federal Title One funding to notify parents of their right to know the professional qualifications of each classroom teacher who instructs their child.
Title One teachers and tutors typically work closely with classroom teachers to help coordinate instructional services and strategies. Title One support is accomplished largely through pull-out assistance rather than working within regular classrooms. This pull-out activity cannot replace the students' participation in regular classroom activities in math nor literacy. As part of the regulations, there are annual pre- and post-test activities to assess the effectiveness of the program and to track student improvement.
If there are questions about Sudbury's Title One program, contact Bob Milley, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, at 978-639-3216, extension 216 or at bob_milley@sudbury.k12.ma.us.