A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Dear Fellow Educators:

As we prepare for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Federal government's largest commitment to elementary and secondary education, we must rethink the way we have traditionally served children in high-poverty schools. As research has shown, poor children who go to schools with high concentrations of poverty are falling farther behind despite our best efforts to help them. It is time to reform our nation's poorest schools, and the Chapter 1/Title I program can contribute to this effort in new ways, particularly through innovative and comprehensive schoolwide projects focused on helping every child meet higher standards. These projects hold great potential for reforming whole schools, rather than working at the edges by focusing only on individual categorical programs that operate in the schools for a small part of the child's instructional time.

This idea book, one in a series the Department will issue over the next year, provides a wealth of information on how to use the comprehensive schoolwide models to improve learning for more students. It discusses the research that supports whole school change, highlighting key features of successful programs, and obstacles to be overcome when undertaking reforms. The ideas in this handbook can be applied to all schools to help students reach high levels of achievement and performance.

The approaches encouraged in this idea book would be supported through the Administration's proposal to reauthorize Chapter 1 as the new Title I. The proposal would expand eligibility for schoolwide programs and allow schoolwide programs to combine Title I funds with other funds to increase the amount and quality of learning time and help provide an enriched and accelerated curriculum. Under this proposal, Title I would become a catalyst for comprehensively reforming the entire instructional program in schools.

We encourage you to draw upon the guidance in this handbook and the successes of the profiled schools to improve your schools and to help all children achieve high standards.

Yours sincerely,

Richard W. Riley
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