Early intervention is critical. Local Title I programs should expand their outreach activities to coordinate with Head Start and other professional programs. Assessment needs to be ongoing and linked directly to instruction. Assessments must reflect students' instructional programs and provide teachers with useful feedback. Students and their parents need to understand the assessment process.
Accountability encourages involvement and enhances program effectiveness.
Teachers, schools, districts, and communities need to be held accountable for publicizing their goals for Title I programs. Funding should be contingent upon shared commitment and accountability. The services for children need to be coordinated to fit the needs of the child, not to fit the child to the services. Programs should be based on a wide range of research. Reading programs should be tailored to local and individual student needs, but they should also be based on proven principles of effective schooling and subjected to independent, objective review.