Federal Programs

Elementary School Parent and Family Engagement Policy

Flexible Learning Program

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) submitted to the U. S. Department of Education (US ED) an application requesting flexibility through waivers of ten Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) requirements and their associated, regulatory, administrative and reporting requirements. On February 9, 2012, Georgia's Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver was approved by the US ED. Two of the ten requested waivers directly affected Supplemental Educational Services (SES) and Public School Choice (Choice). The waiver allows local educational agencies (LEAs) greater flexibility in designing a flexible learning program tailored to the needs of their school and will have the capacity to serve more students in need for additional academic support.

Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the GaDOE will transition from needs improvement (NI) distinctions based on adequate yearly progress (AYP) reports to Reward, Priority, Focus and Alert Schools distinctions based on ESEA Flexibility Waiver formulas. Title I schools will now implement specific programs and interventions based on Reward, Priority, Focus, and Alert Schools status. In addition, the GaDOE ESEA flexibility waiver outlines Georgia's new Single Statewide Accountability System, the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI). The CCRPI will serve as a comprehensive report card for all schools in Georgia.

Title I schools not making adequate yearly progress (AYP) will transition from AYP to ESEA flexibility waiver formulas and may be identified as a Priority School or Focus School. Priority Schools and Focus Schools will be required to implement and develop flexible learning programs (FLP) beginning June 2012; if they meet one of the criteria set forth in the ESEA waiver as described below.

Please note: Priority Schools and Focus Schools will be identified and served with support interventions for 3 years.

Reward Schools-Title I Schools-Highest Performing percent of Title I Schools and Highest Progress schools (10 percent of Title I Schools) Reward Schools' designations will replace Distinguished Schools and Distinguished Districts designations. Reward Schools will be identified annually. There are two ways a Title I school may be identified as a Rewards School. A Title I school may be classified as either a High- Performing school or a High-Progress School.

**Priority School---Randolph Clay High School
**Focus School---Randolph County Elementary School

Priority Schools will be identified every three years and the identified school will be served for 3 years through a Flexible Learning Program (FLP) support interventions. These Title I schools are among the lowest five percent of Title I schools in the state based on the achievement of the All Students group in terms of proficiency on the statewide assessments and has demonstrated a lack of progress on those assessments over a number of years in the All Students group; are a Title I-participating or Title I-eligible high school with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over a number of years; or a Tier I or Tier II school under the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program that is using SIG funds to implement a school intervention model.

Focus Schools-Title I Student Eligibility- Schools with the largest within-school gaps (10 percent of Title I Schools) Focus Schools will be identified every three years and the identified school will be served for 3 years through Flexible Learning Program (FLP) support interventions. These schools are Title I schools that have the largest within-school gaps between the highest-achieving subgroup or subgroups and the lowest-achieving subgroup or subgroups or, at the high school level, has the largest within-school gaps in graduation rates (within-school-gaps Focus School) and are Title I high schools with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over a number of years that is not identified as a Priority School (low-graduation-rate Focus School).

Title I Alert Schools Based on 9 ESEA Subgroups-Does not include Priority Schools or Focus Schools. Title I, Alert Schools will be identified annually. These schools are both Title I and non-Title I schools that fall into one of the three following categories using ESEA disaggregated subgroups or subject performance on both statewide assessments and graduation rate: Graduation Alert, Subgroup Alert or Subject Alert.

If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Donna Drakeford, Federal Programs Director at 229-732-2463, or donna.drakeford@sowegak12.org.