The Effects of Title I Programs on Students Proficiency in the U.S. and Implications for Korea

[Purpose] This paper aims to empirically investigate the impact of the federally funded Title I program on the performance of students from low-income families, as assessed through the state's own assessments. Additionally, the study seeks to discern the relative effectiveness of two specific program, namely the school-wide program and the targeted assistant program, to see which program is more effective. [Methods] To accomplish these objectives, the research leverages two national data sets from 2008-09 to 2013-14, sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's EDFacts and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data. Employing fixed-effects and mixed-effects models with the school-level data, the study conducts a rigorous examination of the program's impact across various grade levels. [Results] The findings of this study reveal that the Title I program exerts substantially positive effects on academic outcomes of economically disadvantaged students in lower grades, with moderate positive effects observed in middle grades. However, no discernible impact is observed at the high school level. In terms of the specific program effects, lower grade levels exhibited higher achievement when implementing the “school-wide program”, whereas high schools showed lower achievement. Conversely, transitioning from the “targeted assistant program” to the “school-wide program” demonstrated positive effects only at the high school level. [Conclusion] The results of this study demonstrate the importance of prioritizing investments in early grades when providing educational services or support to students in need. As students progress to higher grades, there is a need to design and implement programs that are tailored to their levels and circumstances. Furthermore, in allocating education finances for low-income groups, prioritize elementary schools for 'whole-school programs,' and support high schools in developing the capacity to run comprehensive programs.