THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION 3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 100 Baltimore, Maryland 21218-3843 Phone: (410) 516-7160 / Fax (410) 516-5251
November 17, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Leslie Rice [email protected]
TITLE I: IS IT WORKING?
As the debate around Title I promises to become only more heated when the $8.3 billion federal education program goes up for re-authorization in 1999, two Johns Hopkins University researchers have released probably the most comprehensive look at Title I to date.
The latest issue of the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, co-edited by Hopkins researchers Sam Stringfield and John Hollifield, offers the most recent research on the effectiveness of Title I, conducted by social scientists around the country. The journal also offers examples of schools where Title I money is most efficiently used.
"Over the next few months, we'll be hearing more about charter schools and vouchers and Title I will enter a new era," says Stringfield. "As they talk about change and reform, we want policy makers and education writers to have in their hands the most accurate, up-to-date information about Title I possible."
The journal includes recent studies by social scientists from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Chicago, Columbia University and the Colorado Department of Education.
A few of the findings:
o In a sweeping look at studies on Title I since its creation in 1965, researchers find that though the program has made modest academic achievement gains for poor students, it has not closed the achievement gap between Title I and students and their more advantaged peers.
o Emphasis on using Title I funding for teacher aide pay and fragmented programs does not have positive results.
o Studies on individual Title I schools that have implemented whole-school reform models, however, show they have produced successful, replicable results. In these instances, Title I funds have had an overwhelmingly positive effects on achievement gains.
o There is increasing evidence that Title I students, overwhelmingly from poor and ethnic minorities, are capable of succeeding at high levels in school.
The studies reported in the Journal of Education on Students Placed At Risk were supported by funding from the United States Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement and Office of the Undersecretary, and from the National Science Foundation Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics Program. The journal is published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
For more information, call Leslie Rice at 410-516-7160 or co-editors John Hollified and Sam Stringfield at 410-516-8800.
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