Title III Immigrant Student Program Overview

Under Title III, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by Every Students Succeeds Act, the California Department of Education (CDE) is required to set aside funds to provide subgrant awards to local educational agencies (LEAs) that meet eligibility requirements for participation in the Title III Immigrant Student Education Subgrant Program. (20 United States Code [U.S.C] § 6824.)

The term "eligible immigrant student" is defined 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, and 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. (20 U.S.C. § 7011[5].)

Title III Immigrant Student Education Program funds are to be specifically targeted to eligible immigrant students and their families through the provision of supplementary programs and services for the underlying purpose of assuring that these students meet the same challenging grade level and graduation standards as mainstream students.

The purpose of the Title III Immigrant Student Education Program subgrants is to pay for enhanced instructional opportunities to immigrant students and their families. LEAs may choose from activities authorized by Title III.

• Family literacy, parent and family outreach, and training activities designed to assist parents and families to become active participants in the education of their children;
• Recruitment of, and support for, personnel, including teachers and paraprofessionals who have been specifically trained, or are being trained, to provide services to immigrant children and youth;
• Provision of tutorials, mentoring, and academic or career counseling for immigrant children and youth;
• Identification, development, and acquisition of curricular materials, educational software, and technologies to be used in the program carried out with funds;
• Basic instructional services that are directly attributable to the presence of immigrant children and youth in the LEA involved, including the payment of costs are directly attributable to such additional basic instruction services;
• Other instructional services that are designed to assist immigrant children and youth to achieve in elementary schools and secondary schools in the United States, such as programs of introduction to the educational system and civics education;
• Activities, coordinated with community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and families of immigrant children and youth by offering comprehensive community services;
• Recommended direct administration expenses for a fiscal year may not exceed two percent of such funds for the cost of administering this subpart;
• LEAs are authorized to assess approved indirect cost rates to the portion of the subgrant that is not reserved for direct administrative costs; and
• Other activities that are consistent with the purpose of the program.