Public school districts receive additional "categorical" funding to better support our students. The following is a description of the various categorical programs:

Title I – Improving Academic Achievement

The Title I program supports effective, research-based educational strategies that close achievement gaps between high- and low-performing students. Title I funds, and services are provided to schools identified as "targeted assistance" (schools serving students who are most at-risk of failing to meet state academic content standards) or "schoolwide program" (at least 40 percent of students in the school attendance area are from socioeconomically disadvantaged families).

Title II – Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting

The Title II program is used to increase the academic achievement of all students by helping schools and districts improve teacher and principal quality through professional development and ensure all teachers are highly qualified. These funds focus on strategies for recruiting, hiring, training and retaining highly qualified teachers and principals.

Title III – English Learners

The English learner (EL) student program ensures that all EL students attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic achievement in English, and meet the same challenging state academic standards as all other students. Funds are allocated to school districts based on the number of EL students enrolled. They must be used for supplementary services to support EL students, including English language development (ELD) instruction, enhanced instruction in the core academic subjects, and high-quality professional development for teachers and staff. Funds may also be used to upgrade program objectives and instructional strategies, identify and improve curricula, materials, and assessments, provide tutorials for academic and/or vocational education, intensify instruction, acquire or develop educational technology, coordinate language instruction programs with other programs and services, or provide community participation programs and parent outreach.

Title III – Immigrant Students and Families

The purpose of Title III Immigrant subgrants is to pay for enhanced instructional opportunities to support immigrant students and their families, such as family literacy, parent training and community outreach, education personnel, tutorials, mentoring, counseling, identification and acquisition of educational materials and technology, and basic instructional services. The term "eligible immigrant student" is defined in Title III, Section 3301(6) as "an individual student who (a) is aged three through twenty-one; (b) was not born in any state (each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico); and (c) has not been attending any one or more schools in the United States for more than three full school years." 

Title IV – Student Support and Academic Enrichment

The Title IV Program is intended to increase the capacity of local educational agencies (LEAs) to meet the goals of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by providing all students with access to a well-rounded education, improving school conditions for student learning and improving the use of technology to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.