NCLB - No Child Left Behind Act Title I Funding and Use Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under NCLB, what was the minimum percentage of students from low-income families required for a Title I school to be eligible to operate a schoolwide program, allowing it to use funds to upgrade the entire school's educational program?
- 25%
- 40% (Correct answer)
- 50%
- 75%
Correct answer: 40%
NCLB specified that for a school to operate a Title I schoolwide program, at least 40% of its students must be from low-income families. This threshold allowed the school to use its Title I funds to benefit all students by improving the overall educational program, rather than only serving an identified group of students.
Question 2: A principal of a Title I school wants to use Title I funds to hire a new 4th-grade teacher to reduce class sizes for all 4th-grade students. The district's standard staffing formula already provides the school with five 4th-grade teachers based on enrollment. Which NCLB funding principle would this action most likely violate?
- Equitable Services
- Parental Involvement Set-Aside
- Supplement, Not Supplant (Correct answer)
- Maintenance of Effort
Correct answer: Supplement, Not Supplant
The 'supplement, not supplant' provision required that Title I funds be used to provide services that are in addition to (supplemental to), and not in place of (supplanting), services the school would otherwise receive from state and local funds. Since the district's formula already provides for the core teaching staff, using Title I funds for a basic classroom teacher position would be supplanting local/state responsibilities.
Question 3: According to NCLB, if a Local Education Agency (LEA) received a Title I allocation of more than $500,000, what minimum percentage of that allocation was required to be set aside for parental involvement activities?
- 10%
- 5%
- 0.5%
- 1% (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 1%
NCLB mandated that any LEA receiving over $500,000 in Title I funds must reserve at least 1% of its total Title I allocation specifically for activities that promote and support parental involvement. Furthermore, at least 95% of this reserved 1% had to be distributed to the Title I schools within the district.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the primary focus of a Title I Targeted Assistance program under the No Child Left Behind Act?
- Providing professional development for all teachers in the school.
- Upgrading the entire educational program and infrastructure for all students.
- Providing supplemental instructional services only to students identified as failing or most at-risk of failing. (Correct answer)
- Funding extracurricular activities to increase student engagement.
Correct answer: Providing supplemental instructional services only to students identified as failing or most at-risk of failing.
Unlike a schoolwide program, a Targeted Assistance program model required schools to use Title I funds specifically for supplemental services for a select group of students. These students were those identified, based on multiple, educationally related criteria, as failing or being most at-risk of failing to meet the state's academic standards.
Question 5: A principal of a Title I school operating a schoolwide program identifies through a needs assessment that a significant number of students are falling behind due to a lack of academic support after school hours. Which of the following would be an allowable use of Title I funds to address this need?
- Purchasing new uniforms for the school's basketball team.
- Paying for the salaries of core classroom teachers required by state law.
- Funding an after-school tutoring and homework assistance program for all students. (Correct answer)
- Repaving the school's parking lot for staff and visitors.
Correct answer: Funding an after-school tutoring and homework assistance program for all students.
In a schoolwide program, Title I funds can be used to upgrade the entire educational program to benefit all students. Funding supplemental programs like after-school tutoring to address identified academic needs is a core, allowable use of these funds. The other options are either supplanting or are not directly related to academic instruction.
Question 6: Which of the following expenditures in a Title I school would most clearly represent a violation of the 'supplement, not supplant' provision under NCLB?
- Hiring a reading specialist to provide extra help to struggling students.
- Using Title I funds to purchase the same core reading curriculum that the district provides to all non-Title I schools using local funds. (Correct answer)
- Purchasing supplemental software for a computer lab to be used by at-risk students.
- Paying for professional development focused on strategies for teaching low-income students.
Correct answer: Using Title I funds to purchase the same core reading curriculum that the district provides to all non-Title I schools using local funds.
The 'supplement, not supplant' rule prevents the use of federal funds to pay for services that would otherwise be funded by state or local sources. If the district provides a core curriculum to all other schools with its own money, it cannot use Title I funds to pay for that same curriculum in its Title I schools; this would be replacing (supplanting) local funds with federal funds.
NCLB - No Child Left Behind Act Title I Funding and Use Questions and Answers
Under NCLB, what was the minimum percentage of students from low-income families required for a Title I school to be eligible to operate a schoolwide program, allowing it to use funds to upgrade the entire school's educational program?