McKinney-Vento 2001, Law Into Practice Issue Brief

Title I and Homelessness

Title I, Part A, of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) provides financial assistance through State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and public schools with high numbers or percentages of disadvantaged children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards.

Title I is designed to support state and local school reform efforts tied to challenging state academic standards in order to reinforce efforts to improve teaching and learning for students struggling to meet state standards.

Homeless students are part of Title I, Part As target population of disadvantaged students. However, the high mobility, trauma, and deep poverty associated with homelessness create unique educational barriers and challenges. Homelessness is associated with lower standardized test scores and a higher likelihood of missing school and/or experiencing multiple transfers.

Thus, homeless students often require additional supports for academic achievement and success on state assessments.

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