Zigler on Title I

Over on Ed Week Professor Edward Zigler offered a recommendation about contemporary educational policy in the US. He argued that Title I should be modified so that it reflects the Head Start Transition program of the ’90s and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers. He (rightly, in my view) characterizes the current use of Title I funds as a “hodgepodge.”

Title I has never been a specific program with agreed-upon practices or standards. Rather, it is a stream of money bestowed on nearly all of the nation’s school districts and many private schools. School administrators can mount any type of initiative they feel will be beneficial to the academic progress of poor children.

Thus, schools are using the roughly $14 billion in annual Title I funding to support many undertakings: staffing and teacher training; whole-school programs; pullout programs; after-school sessions; reading, math, and science instruction; and myriad other endeavors. Much of the money is spent on elementary school students, but some of it goes to preschool (about $300 million) and to secondary education. With such a laundry list of activities, one would be hard-pressed to explain to taxpayers exactly what they are purchasing.

It would be good to change this. I’m not sure that the models Professor Zigler recommends are the best choices (there are a few models for whole-school reform that have strong records), but focusing the funding on evidence-based methods—not the usual hodgepodge—would be valuable.

Link to Professor Zigler’s editorial.