Rubric for Assessing Title I Narrative Responses
Application Section / Not Approvable / Approvable / Potential Exemplar1A-D / Determining Activities and
Monitoring Impact / Proposal does not clearly identify continued, new, or discontinued activities, and/or fails to provide a sufficientrationale for why activities are to be continued, added, or discontinued.
Proposal shows insufficient evidence of reflection on data to make decisionsand monitor progress regarding serving the lowest-achieving students and lowest-performing schools. / Proposal clearly identifies continued, new, or discontinued activities and provides a sufficient rationale for continuing, adding, or discontinuing activities.
Proposal shows evidence of a system or process for using appropriate data to guide and monitor decisions about how to serve the lowest-achieving students and lowest-performing schools. / Proposal clearly identifies continued, new, or discontinued activities, and provides a sufficient rationale for continuing, adding, or discontinuing activities. Information on strengths, gaps, and weaknesses is provided that relates directly to the rationales given.
Proposal shows evidence that the district uses a cycle of continuous improvement, reflecting on data and making decisions and mid-course corrections based on what that data shows. Early evidence of change is specified for benchmarking.
2A / Ensuring Fiscal Appropriateness / Proposal includes one or more expenditures that may fail to meet federal Title I, Part A supplement not supplant and/or other fiscal requirements. / Proposal includes expenditures that are approvable, supplementing what would otherwise be provided using state or local funds. It is clear how expenditures will benefit Title I students/teachers,and/or the district's lowest performing students. / N/A
2B / Support for Students who are Homeless / Proposal includes neither district reservation for homeless services nor description of other supports provided by the district outside of Title I. / Proposal includes district Title I reservation description of homeless services or description of other supports provided outside of Title I to adequately meet needs. / N/A
3 / Strengthening District Standards and Addressing Priorities / Proposed supports are not (or are insufficiently) aligned to the District Standards and Indicators and state priorities. / Proposed supports are connected to one or more ofthe District Standards and Indicators and state priorities. / Proposed supports are well-aligned with one or more of the District Standards and Indicators and state priorities. Supports are high-leverage and are likely to strengthen the district's lowest performing schools.
4 / Identifying Supports and Interventions for Low-Performing Students and Schools & Impact / Some parts of Question 4 are left incomplete. Proposed supports and interventions are unlikely to address the needs of the lowest-performing students/schools. Interventions are inadequately described and are not tied to specific student populations. Insufficient data are provided to justify continuation or initial implementation of proposed intervention(s). / All parts of Question 4 are complete.Proposed supports and interventions are prioritized based on leverage/need, and are likely to address the needs of the lowest-performing students/schools. Interventions and supports are described and are targeted toward specific student populations. Sufficient data are provided to justify continuation or initial implementation of proposed intervention(s). / Prioritized supports and interventions aggressively address the needs of the lowest-performing students/schools. The link between intervention(s) and targeted population(s) is clear. Interventions are coordinated within a larger system of supports for greatest impact. Convincing quantitative and qualitative data are provided to justify continuation or initial implementation of proposed intervention(s).
5 / Strengthening Conditions for School Effectiveness / Proposed supports are not (or are insufficiently) aligned to the Conditions for School Effectiveness. / Proposed supports are connected to one or more of the Conditions for School Effectiveness in areas highlighted as directly relating to the root cause(s) of underperformance identified through self-assessment. / Proposed supports are well-aligned with one or more of the Conditions for School Effectiveness. Supports are likely to strengthen the highest-need schools in a number of key areas identified through self-assessment.
6 / Ensuring Positive Outcomes for Highest Need Schools and Students / Proposal is not convincing when it comes to explaining why, in certain cases, funds are not used to serve the highest need schools and students and how other funds/supports will ensure rapidly improving outcomes for those with high need. / Proposal is convincing when it comes to discussing schools served, and why in cases where the highest need schools and students do not receive extra allocation/reservation dollars, the likelihood of rapidly improving outcomes to meet new targets is still strong. / Proposal shows true prioritization of schools and students when it comes to selecting supports (and level of support). There is evidence that all schools are being served appropriately, and that the district ensures rapidly improving outcomes for all.
Guidance on Responding to Title I Narrative Question 4 for Levels 2-5 Districts
Question 4 asks the district to report on the impact of interventions and supports funded by the required reservation amounts to meet the needs of low achieving students in your district. Please follow these guidelines when reporting on impact of activities:
- be as succinct as possible,
- provide justification for continuation of the activity: positive growth in results, indicators of impact on learning, and completion of steps in implementation of promising practices can all be used to justify continuation of activities,
- use quantitative data such as pre- and post-formative/benchmark/summative data wherever possible,
- use qualitative data where it can support quantitative data or where quantitative data is not applicable,
- where activities are not yet complete (e.g., summer activities), interim judgments and indicators are acceptable, and;
- reference to program evaluations by the district or outside entities, where available, is encouraged.
For additional resources on improvement planning and benchmarking, see our website.
The following samples are provided to give you a guide as to how succinct quantitative and qualitative evidence can be used to provide sufficient justification for continuation of your targeted interventions and supports: (see following pages)
CONTINUED Interventions & Supports / Continued Intervention/Support 1 / Continued Intervention/Support 2 / Continued Intervention/Support 3Activity / Instruction Extended Day/Year (K-12) / High Quality Professional Development / Instruction Extended Day/Year (K-12)
Target Grade Span / MS / ES / MS
Target Area / English Language Arts / English Language Arts / Mathematics
Description / Afterschool tutoring program for middle school students who are not reading at grade level. / Professional development for elementary teachers on guided reading practices. / Summer program for middle school students who are performing below grade level proficiency in math.
FY16 Planned Outcomes / ELA A-Net assessment scores will show xx% increase in students scoring proficient and xx% decrease in students scoring in warning category. / Learning walks will show evidence that guided reading is taking place in xx% of classrooms and DIBELS scores are used to determine student groupings. / xx% attendance of recommended students. Ongoing formative assessments indicate progress and understanding of math concepts.
FY16 Actual Outcomes / Between the first and the fourth administration of ELA A-Net assessments: xx% increase in number of students scoring proficient; xx% decrease in number of students scoring in warning category. xx% of students reported that they liked reading more than before they began this afterschool program. / Following professional development sessions, coaching, and model lessons on guided reading strategies, learning walk observations showed xx% of teachers employing guided reading strategies and using DIBELS to determine groupings. / xx% attendance rate so far. At midpoint of program, interim common assessments showed an average of xx point increase over pre-assessment results.
FY17 Intended Outcomes / ELA A-Net assessment scores will show xx% increase in students scoring proficient and xx% decrease in students scoring in warning category. / xx% increase of students reading at grade level. / At the end of the summer program, xx% of students will be at grade level proficiency in math.
NEW Interventions & Supports / New Intervention/Support 1 / New Intervention/Support 2 / New Intervention/Support 3
Activity / High Quality Professional Development
Target Grade Span / ES
Target Area / Other
Description / Elementary teachers who work with at-risk students will receive professional development instruction in strategies for differentiated instruction in the classroom.
FY17 Intended Outcomes / xx% of teachers will exhibit the three selected differentiated instruction strategies in the classroom.
Early Evidence of Change
(e.g. Benchmark Data) / Based on learning walks, lesson plans, and observations: xx% of all teachers will exhibit the three selected differentiated instruction strategies by the end of November 2016, xx% by end of January 2017, and xx% by end of March 2017.
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