Study of Title I Schoolwide and Targeted Assistance Programs

Appendix G: Teacher Interview Protocol and Consent Form

Teacher Interview Protocol (SWP and TAP Schools)

School: District: State:	Interviewer:
Interviewee:	Date/Time:
Interviewee’s Role(s): (select all that apply) ᴏ Title I Teacher ᴏ Other Title I-funded Staff (indicate position at school) ____________________________________

Information for the Interviewer

For more than 50 years, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has aimed to improve the prospects of children in high-poverty schools by providing additional funding for their schools to develop educational services that will improve student outcomes.

Although the Title I policy began by targeting services to eligible students—low achievers in high-poverty schools—the program has increasingly emphasized schoolwide services based on research showing that schools can improve student outcomes by adopting whole-school strategies. Title I’s schoolwide program (SWP) provisions allow schools the flexibility to serve all students in the school and thereby design whole-school reforms. Unlike their targeted assistance (TA) counterparts, SWP schools also are allowed to commingle Title I funds with funds from other federal, state, and local programs. This study aims to obtain a better understanding of how SWP flexibility may translate into programs and services that can improve student performance.

PAY ATTENTION TO:

• Activities of Title I Personnel. What services, strategies, and interventions Title I-funded staff in SWP and TAP schools provide to support school improvement efforts (RQ1)

• Title I Interventions. How Title I teachers in SWP and TAP schools use Title I-funded services, resources, and materials to improve student outcomes (RQ1)

• Resource Allocation. How Title I funds are allocated to the school and how Title I teachers access Title I-funded materials, resources, and services (RQ2)

• Decision Making. How decisions are made about how to use and allocate Title I funds and the level of teacher involvement in decision making (RQ2)

• Professional Development. State and district supports to Title I teachers on Title I (RQ2)

By the end of this interview, you should have details and examples for each of these areas.

Introduction

Key points to convey to the respondent:

• This is a study conducted by American Institutes for Research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of the study is to explore the implementation of Title I programs, focusing on the interplay among school decision making, use of funds, and implementation of educational practices supported by Title I and other funds.

• This is not a compliance study; our purpose is solely to provide policymakers and the general public with insight regarding local experiences with Title I programs.

• We are conducting case studies of Title I schools in a subset of the nation’s states and districts. We also are administering nationally representative surveys of district officials and school principals to collect data from a wider range of respondents. In addition to the case studies and surveys, our team is reviewing state and district resources and policy documents available to guide the implementation of Title I schoolwide and targeted assistance programs.

• The study’s results will be discussed in a final report that will be available publicly. The main purpose of this study is to share your perspectives and experiences with policymakers as they continue to refine policy and technical assistance on important issues related to Title I.

• We will not include any information in our public reporting that identifies your district. However, officials at the U.S. Department of Education will know that districts in your state participated in this study. In addition, staff from the U.S. Department of Education will see notes from our interview, but the notes we share will be reviewed and edited to ensure we do not include any information that could identify you or your district.

• We know that you are very busy, and we appreciate your time. We anticipate that this interview will take approximately 30 minutes.

• We would like to record this conversation so that we can be sure we have an accurate record of our conversation. We will not share this recording with anyone outside the research team, and we will delete the recording after the final report is complete. Is that okay with you?

• You may discontinue your participation in this interview at any time. Throughout the course of the interview, if we touch on topics that you believe to be sensitive for any reason, please bring that to our attention, and we will not include these comments either in public reporting or in discussions with the U.S. Department of Education.

If asked why or how the district was selected for the study:

• The districts and schools for the study were selected on the basis of a number of factors. We wanted to include larger and smaller districts and schools that are located in different regions of the country and include both Title I schoolwide and targeted assistance programs. We also selected schools on the basis of school characteristics, including school level (elementary, middle, and high), enrollment, and demographics, to ensure variation in the sample.

Roles and Responsibilities

I would like to start with some questions about your specific roles and responsibilities as a Title I [teacher/other staff person] at this school.

Question

1. Are you designated as a Title I teacher/ staff member in your school?

Probe for:

• Do you play a role or have any responsibilities at this school that are not supported by Title I?

2. Are you familiar with how Title I is used to support your position at this school?

Probe for:

• Is any portion of your salary paid for by Title I?

• Are the materials, resources, or other services you provide paid for by Title I?

3. Are there any materials or supplies that are considered Title I materials specifically?

Probe for :

• If yes, who purchases these materials? How do you access or request these materials?

Decision-Making Process

I would like to now talk about the Title I planning process and how decisions are made related to the use of Title I funds to support your school improvement efforts.

Question
Overall, how would you describe your involvement in making decisions about how Title I funds will be spent? For example, are you involved in decisions about what specific interventions, supports, and services will be funded by Title I?	Probe for: What decision-making activities are you involved in? How does the school/district communicate with you about your school’s needs? Do you feel like the decisions made by the district and school administration reflect the needs of your school? Please explain. Are there certain areas of decision-making where you have more influence than others?

Teacher/Staff Activities

Now, I’d like to learn about what your typical day looks like at this school. I’m going to ask you about how much of your time is spent providing academic instruction to students, providing students with support services, working with parents, collaborating with other teachers, participating in and providing professional development, and administrative and supervisory responsibilities.

[Note to interviewer: Ask the following questions as appropriate based on earlier responses. You may skip certain questions if you already know they do not engage in this activity. If the respondent gives a general or descriptive answer, ask them to convert that to an estimated percentage of a typical day. If the respondent indicates that it is hard to estimate percent time spent on an activity by day, ask that they estimate percent time spent in a typical week.]

Question

5. First, can you tell me about how much of your time is spent providing academic instruction to students? What does this time typically look like?

Listen for:

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

• Regularly scheduled academic instruction provided during the school day

  • Lead classroom teacher

  • Co-teacher/support to lead teacher

  • Push-in or pull-out instruction with specific students

• Regularly scheduled academic instruction, supports, or related services that are provided outside of the school day

• Other activities with students that support their academic performance

• Instruction targeted to specific groups of children (e.g. ELs, students with disabilities, low-performing students)

6. About how much of your time is spent on counseling students or providing other social-emotional support to students? Can you describe what this time typically looks?

Listen for:

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

• Counseling

• Psychological or health services

7. About how much of your time is spent working with parents and families? Can you describe what this time typically looks like?

Conclusion

Question
Have you previously worked as a Title I teacher in another TAP or SWP school in this district or another district? If so, how is your experience with Title I at this school different or similar? Is there anything else you would like to share about your school’s Title I program?

Thank you so much for your assistance with this important project!

Purpose

American Institutes for Research (AIR), under contract with the Policy and Program Studies Service (PPSS) of the U.S. Department of Education, is conducting a study of school decision making, use of Title I funds, and implementation of education practices in Title I Schoolwide (SWP) and Targeted Assistance (TAP) programs. Specifically, the proposed study will provide a comparative analysis of SWP and TAP schools that looks at the school-level decision-making process, implementation of strategic interventions, and corresponding resources that support these interventions. To this end, the study will employ multiple data collection strategies.

To assist with the study, we are asking Title I teachers to participate in interviews. You will be asked about the following topics: the process by which decisions concerning educational resource allocation are made; how funding flexibility under Title I policy is used; the interventions and educational resources used that are supported by Title I and other funding sources; and, how state and district policies affect both how funds are used to support the subsequent strategies and the resources that are used at schools. The interview is designed to last approximately 30 minutes.

Risks and Discomfort

There are few anticipated or known risks in participating in this study.

Benefits

Your participation in the study will contribute to an understanding of the interplay between school decision-making, use of funds, and implementation of educational practices supported by Title I and other funding sources.

Participation

Participation of Title I districts and their schools in this study is required under Section 8306(a)(4) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. However, you may choose not to respond to certain questions or discontinue the interview at any time.

Privacy

Responses to this data collection will be used only for research purposes. No part of the study involves evaluation of any individual. The reports prepared for the study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district, school, or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you, your school, or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law. If there is information that you do not want shared directly in any reporting, please let me know.

We would like your consent to record the interview. Recordings will be kept in a secure location and will not be accessed by anyone outside of the study team. The audio recordings will be destroyed at the conclusion of the study. You can participate in the interview but decline to have it recorded. Additionally, if you elect to have the interview recorded, you may stop the recording at any time.

More Information

If you would like more information about this study, you may contact the Project Director, Kerstin Carlson Le Floch, at the American Institutes for Research at 202–403–5649 or at klefloch@air.org. For questions regarding your rights as a subject participating in this research, please contact the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at IRBChair@air.org or toll free at 1–800–634–0797.

Informed Consent

I have read the above information. I have asked questions and received answers. I consent to participate in the study.

Signature: ________________________________ Date: ________________________

Print Name: ______________________________ Position: _____________________

District/School: ____________________________

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. The valid OMB control number of this information collection is XXXX-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates(s) or suggestion for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, 20202-4651. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to:

Policy and Program Studies Service, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202.

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