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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A title I school has at least 40% of families that receive free or reduced price meals. Thy receive extra title I finding from the federal government.
A focus school has a large gap in test scores between different groups - e.g., different races/ethnicities, kids who receive free/reduced price meals vs those who don't.
- in MCPS, schools that are either title I or focus have lower class sizes than ones that are neither.[/quote]

In MCPS there are 25 (or 26) Title I elementary schools.  It's based on FARMS but without a hard and fast percentage cutoff.  MCPS received funding for a set number this year, and the poorest 25/26 schools get it.  The lowest FARMS Title I school is Clopper Mill with 68.4%.  The highest FARMS non-Title I is Viers Mill at 67.1%.  I was teaching at Viers Mill when they lost Title I two years ago, and it was due to the county receiving funding for two fewer schools.  If the county got funding for one more school next year, Viers Mill would likely get it back.

The differences I experienced between Title I and Focus were resources.  For Title I, all class sizes were reduced due to increased allocations.  Some principals may opt to use the funding for additional reading or academic support teachers to do interventions.  There is increased funding for para educators, and the schools are the most protected from budget cuts.  For example, many counselors were cut to .5 positions, but Title I schools kept a full time counselor.  With Focus funds, class sizes are reduced in K-2, but not 3-5.  They are also not as protected from the cuts, and the resources are slowly reduced year after year.  Focus funds are local, Title I is federally funded.[/quote]

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