! Interpret data with caution.
¹ Title I is designed to support state and local school reform efforts tied to challenging state academic standards in order to reinforce and amplify efforts to improve teaching and learning for students farthest from meeting state standards. Individual public schools with poverty rates at or above 40 percent may use Title I funds, along with other federal, state, and local funds, to operate a "schoolwide program" to upgrade the instructional program for the whole school. Schools with poverty rates below 40 percent, or those choosing not to operate a schoolwide program, offer a "targeted assistance program" in which the school identifies students who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the state's challenging performance standards, then designs, in consultation with parents, staff, and district staff, an instructional program to meet the needs of those students.
NOTE: The average number of students to staff is based on the total number of full- and part-time staff. This measure differs from pupil-teacher ratios, which are based on the total number of full-time-equivalent teachers. Student enrollment data used to calculate this ratio are for schools with such staff. Regular public schools do not include alternative, special education, special program emphasis, or vocational/technical schools. Data for combined elementary and secondary schools and for ungraded schools are excluded. ESL is English as a second language.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, "Public School Questionnaire," 2003–04.