Title II for Staff Development

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by the Every Student  Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for state and local agencies to use federal Title II funding in more innovative and effective ways in which to help improve leader and teacher quality while, ultimately, increasing students’ success, says a policy brief by Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit network of state and district education, in regards to Title II for Staff Development. These are significant opportunities. In 2016, $2.34 billion was federally appropriated for Title II with funding available at state and district levels, the policy brief states.

Chiefs for Change also points out that Title II under ESSA continues to focus on raising student achievement by improving the quality of principals, teachers and other school leaders, affording significant flexibility for districts and states to carry out a wide range of activities, consistent to their particular needs.

According to ACSD, an organization dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching, and leading, ESSA has eliminated NCLB’s definition of core academic subjects, expanding the allowable use of Title II funds for professional development to include teachers of every subject, along with other school staff like librarians, principals and paraprofessionals.

The majority of districts use their funding for professional development. Funds, in particular, are used to provide continuous, ongoing training that assists teachers in understanding academic subjects and learn strategies to help students, in which most are English learners and/or low-income, meet high academic standards, it says.

Under ESSA, professional development activities and programs must be evidence-based versus the more demanding scientifically-based requirement under NCLB. This means programs have demonstrated a strong record of success with trustworthy, reliable and valid evidence illustrating that a particular program is effective, ACSD states. ESSA also recognizes that teachers learn best when they can immediately apply and collaborate what they’ve learned by explicitly requiring ongoing activities from within the job that improve instruction.

Through its professional development, educator workshop training for the implementation of its various literacy and college awareness programs, The Latino Family Literacy Project has demonstrated a strong record of success in helping to raise ELL student achievement under Title II under ESSA for many years, providing a perfect fit for Hispanic parents for Title I and Title III parent involvement programs.

Since each program offered is structured with the same format, teachers and staff need to be trained only once. Training includes a cultural competency overview and a proven step-by-step method for working with Hispanic ESL parents. Teachers can attend the half-day program training at a workshop near them or via an online webinar. For information on costs or other questions, please contact The Latino Family Literacy Project.