Title I, which is part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, is the largest federal elementary and secondary education program. The funds that Hinsdale Central School receives under Title I allow us to improve teaching and learning for our students.

The NCLB law requires schools that receive federal Title I funds to ensure that all students meet challenging academic standards. It also requires other school programs that receive federal funds to improve student achievement.

Increased Responsibility
NCLB gives schools increased responsibility for results.

Standards for Progress
All states must set academic standards for what every child should know. New York State already has high standards for its students. Each state must measure the progress of districts and schools in meeting these standards. Each district and school is expected to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward achieving those standards.

Defining Adequate Yearly Progress
NCLB’s goal is that by 2014, all children will achieve their state’s proficiency level in reading, language arts, math, and science. Adequate yearly progress is the minimum level of improvement school districts and schools must achieve every year to meet this goal.

Testing Every Year
State achievement tests measure how well students are learning in elementary, middle, and high school. Testing helps identify schools that are doing well and schools that need to do better. In New York, elementary and middle school students must take the following state achievement tests:

• ELA—Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (January)

• Math—Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (March)

• Science—Grades 4 and 8 (April/May)

High school students in New York must take regents examinations in ELA, Social Studies, Math and Science. Further information about testing requirements, as well as sample tests, may be obtained at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa

School Report Cards
The NCLB law requires all states to publish report cards on school districts and schools. The report cards that New York State parents received in the past now have more information as a result of this law. The report cards not only show how well all students are doing, but also show if there are achievement gaps among different groups of students based on economic background, race and ethnic group membership, English language proficiency, and disabilities. School report cards also identify schools in need of improvement and show high school graduation rates and teacher qualifications.

Hinsdale Central School is a school in good standing, which means that it has made Adequate Yearly Progress in all required areas.

Hinsdale Central’s report cards from 2021-2022 may be accessed at https://data.nysed.gov/ along with years prior. 

Supplemental Education
Although Hinsdale Central has demonstrated that most of its students are meeting New York State’s standards, some individual students are still struggling to do so. At the elementary and middle school levels, students must obtain a Level 3 or 4 on the examinations to show proficiency; at the high school level, students must obtain a 65% or above on the required regents examinations.

Students who fail to demonstrate adequate proficiency must be provided additional instruction that supplements general instruction. At Hinsdale Central, our Title I teachers work with students—either within the classroom or on a “pull out” basis – in small groups or even one-on-one to assure that these students obtain the skills they must have in order to become proficient.

For students who are deemed at risk of not meeting the standards, Hinsdale Central provides Academic Intervention Services, which are locally funded, to supplement the students’ general instruction. Academic Intervention classes also are conducted in small groups, within or outside of the regular classroom setting.

The Board of Education recognizes the rights of parents/persons in parental relation to be fully informed of all information relevant to their children, including children who participate in programs and projects funded by Title I. Therefore, the Board of Education encourages the participation of parents of students eligible for Title I services in all aspects of their children's education, including the development and implementation of district programs, as well as activities and procedures that are designed to carry out No Child Left Behind (NCLB) parent involvement goals.

District-Wide Parent Involvement Policy
In order to facilitate parental participation, in accordance with NCLB requirements, as outlined in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Section 6318(B), the District will:

• a) Involve parents in the joint development of the Title I Plan. If the plan is not satisfactory to the parents of children participating in Title I programs, the District will submit any parent comments to the State Education Department along with the District's plan;

• b) Provide the coordination, technical assistance, and support necessary to assist participating schools in planning and implementing effective parent involvement activities to improve student academic achievement and school performance;

• c) Build the schools' and parents' capacity for strong parental involvement through implementing and encouraging participation in appropriate parental involvement activities as listed in the School-Parent Compact. This compact outlines how parents, staff and students will share responsibility for promoting high student achievement. The building's needs are gathered through needs assessments surveys. The committee uses the results to develop a compact for the school which reflects the needs of the students. Parents will receive the compact from the school listing responsibilities that teachers, parents, students and principals will each have for helping students achieve their goals. Specific ways to encourage participation include the following:

  • reading to or with children at home

  • taking an interest in school to home activities

  • checking to see that homework is done

  • talking and listening at home

  • attending open houses

  • serving on Advisory Committees

  • communication on a regular basis in either written or verbal form

  • attending parent workshops and in-services

  • taking part in Parent-Teacher-Student Advisory Board

• d) Coordinate and integrate parental involvement strategies under Title I with those of other programs including, but not limited to, the Headstart Program, YMCA KidZone, 21st Century Learning Program, Center for Family Unity, TASA, Parent Resource Centers and other programs;

• e) Conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parent involvement policy in improving the academic quality of the Title I schools. The evaluation shall include identifying barriers to greater participation by parents in activities under the policy and use of the findings of the evaluation to design strategies for more effective parental involvement and to revise, if necessary, the parental involvement policies at the District and school levels. The evaluation shall occur on an annual basis through the Parent Advisory Annual Title I Meeting held each fall at Open House night; in addition, a survey of parents through the District's website will be taken periodically to assess the effectiveness of the policy.

• f) There will be an annual evaluation or assessment of how much parental involvement is increasing and what needs to be done in the future. Assessments will be done using surveys, questionnaires, face-to-face communications, and other appropriate documentation.

• g) Involve parents of children in Title I programs in decisions regarding how funds reserved for parental involvement activities are spent; the Parent Advisory group will solicit ideas for funds which will be used for parental involvement activities.

School-Level Parent Involvement Policy

In accordance with Section 6318(c), the Board of Education directs each school receiving Title I funds to ensure that a building level parent involvement plan is developed with the participation of that school's parents. In addition to the goals stated above, each school building level plan will describe the details to:

• a) Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time, to inform parents of their school's participation in Title I programs and to explain Title I requirements and the right of parents to be involved. All parents of children participating in Title I programs will be invited and encouraged to attend the meeting,

• b) Offer a flexible number of meetings, such as meetings in the morning or evening; and may provide (with funds provided under this provision of law) transportation, child care, or home visits, as such services relate to parent involvement;

• c) Involve parents in an organized, ongoing and timely way in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school parent involvement policy.

• d) Provide parents of participating children with timely information about programs, a description and explanation of the curriculum in use in Title I programs, the forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress, the proficiency levels students are expected to meet, and if requested by parents, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and respond to any such suggestions as soon as practicably possible; and

• e) Develop a school-parent compact jointly with parents that outlines how the parents, school staff and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and detail the means by which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help all children achieve the state's standards.

• f) The compact must include:

  1. A description of the school's responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables the children served in Title I schools to meet the State's student academic achievement standards.

  2. A description of the ways in which each parent will be responsible for supporting their children's learning, such as monitoring attendance, homework completion, television watching, volunteering in their child's classroom and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time; and

  3. Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents on an ongoing basis including, but not limited to:

     • a) Parent-teacher conferences in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child's achievement

     • b) Frequent reports to parents on their children's progress; and

     • c) Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child's class, and observation of classroom activities. Access to staff will occur on a face-to-face basis, through Open House, Parent Conference, and informal meetings; also through electronic mail, and the District website. In addition, parents will be encouraged to volunteer, observe, and participate in their child's classroom on an as-needed basis, with notice given to the teacher.

To ensure effective involvement of parents and t support a partnership among the schools involved, parents, and the community in order to improve student academic achievement, the District and each school shall:

• a) Provide assistance to parents of children served by the District or school, in understanding such topics as the State's academic content standards and State student academic achievement standards, State and local academic assessments, the requirements of this part, and how to monitor a child's progress and work with educators to improve the achievement of their children;

• The School District will make this information available through Open House and Parent Conference meetings, other formal and informal meetings, through its website, mailings of student assessment results, information on the parent access of the nyStart website, and newsletter articles.

• b) Provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children's achievement, such as literacy training and using technology, as appropriate, to foster parental involvement. The monthly dissemination of “Parents Make a Difference” newsletter – both taken home by elementary and secondary students and through the District's website is an excellent vehicle for parents to use in an effort to improve their children's achievement. In addition, individual teacher web pages can assist in this effort.

• c) Educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contribution of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school. Through staff development opportunities, faculty meeting discussion, and Open House/Parent Conference meetings, informal and formal communications between school and parents, the school community will consistently reach out to work with parents.

• d) Coordinate and integrate to the extent feasible and appropriate, parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, KidZone, 21st Century Learning Program, the programs for the Family Literacy program, and public preschool and other programs, and conduct other activities, such as parent resource centers, that encourage and support parents in more fully participating in the education of their children.

• e) Ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings and other activities is sent to parents of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand.

In addition to the above activities which are required for the District and each school, the District and each school:

• a) May involve parents in the development of training for teachers, principals, and other educators to improve the effectiveness of such training;

• b) May provide necessary literacy training from funds received under this part if the local education agency has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for such training;

• c) May pay reasonable and necessary expenses associated with local parental involvement activities, including transportation and child care costs, to enable parents to participate in school-related meetings and training sessions;

• d) May train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents;

• e) May arrange school meetings at a variety of times, or conduct in-home conferences between teachers or other educators, who work directly with participating children, with parents who are unable to attend such conferences at school, in order to maximize parental involvement and participation;

• f) May adopt and implement model approaches to improving parental involvement;

• g) May establish a District-wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parental involvement in programs supported under this section;

• h) May develop appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement policies; and

• i) Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities under this section as parents may request.

• In carrying out the parental involvement requirements, the District and schools, to the extent practicable, shall provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities, and parents of migratory children, including providing information and school reports required under Section 6311 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language such parents understand.

Procedures for Filing Complaints/Appeals
The District will disseminate free of charge to parents of children in Title I programs, and to appropriate private school officials or representatives, adequate information regarding the District's written complain procedures for resolving issues of violation(s) of a Federal statute or regulation that applies to Title I, Part A programs.

Comparability of Services
The School District shall ensure equivalence among the schools in the District of the same grade span and levels of instruction with regard to teachers, administrators and auxiliary personnel as well as equivalence in the provision of curriculum materials and instructional supplies in Title I programs.

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

20 United States Code (USC) Sections 6318 and 6321

34 Code of Federal Regulations (CPR) Parts 74-86 and 97-99, and 200

Suggestions for changes/improvements to this policy may be forwarded to Larry Ljungberg, Superintendent, at 716-557-2227, ext. 402.

For Title I, Parts A, C, and D
Or Section 100.2(ee) of Commissioner's Regulations
Regarding Academic Intervention Services

Procedures for Filing Complaints/Appeals with the Hinsdale Central School District concerning violations of ESEA Title I, Parts A, C, and D, or the General Education Provisions Act; or of Section 100.2 (ee) Academic Intervention Service of the Regulations of the Commissioner