Marvin Kosters and Brent Mast, American Enterprise Institute Press
2003
This 127-page American Enterprise Institute study drives multiple nails into the coffin of the Federal Title I program as it operated from 1965 to 2001 - and holds out only limited hope that NCLB-mandated changes will cause it work better. The authors refuse to view Title I as simply a resource-transfer program and insist that its stated purpose is to narrow the achievement gaps between poor and non-poor and minority and non-minority youngsters. After reviewing reams of data and many earlier studies, they conclude, "The weight of the evidence in our study points to (1) little or no positive effects of Title I on achievement and (2) no convincing indication of improvement over time." They know the program isn't going away, however, so they speculate as to what might make it work better. They hold out scant hope for policies that rely on "establishing goals, setting time schedules, monitoring performance, specifying remedies, and assessing penalties." That's the historic approach of Title I and it simply hasn't worked. They're moderately more bullish about a "testing and information strategy" that empowers parents and communities with additional data about school performance and gives kids more educational options. NCLB's limited provisions along the latter lines "provide the main reasons for optimism about improving the contribution of Title I." The authors suggest, however, that a far better idea would be a comprehensive experiment with full-fledged, fully financed school choice for disadvantaged youngsters. That idea, of course, was dropped from NCLB by Congress - too "controversial" - and is currently on shaky ground with respect to the District of Columbia. In any case, if you want a cogent, hard-nosed (but highly technical) review of 38 years of Title I evidence, this book is the answer to your prayers. The ISBN is 0844771651 and you can get additional information at http://www.aei.org/publications/bookID.409/book_detail.asp.
