The President has requested an increase of $1.2 billion, or 9.4 percent, for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies in fiscal year 2008 primarily to deliver greater resources to high-poverty high schools. These resources would support more rigorous instruction and coursework to improve graduation rates and prepare all graduates for either postsecondary education or the workforce.

Nearly all of the $1.2 billion would be used to realign Title I funding so that local allocations to high schools more closely reflect their enrollment of students from low-income families. Ensuring that high schools receive their fair share of Title I resources will help extend achievement gains to the high school level and contribute to the preparation of all high school students for postsecondary education or competitive employment in the global economy. The increase, along with State Assessment Grants funding, also would support new assessments in reading and math at two additional high school years, including an 11th-grade assessment of college readiness in each subject. To help bring down the unacceptably high dropout rate, the Administration's proposal also would insist on continuous improvement in the graduation rate as a condition of making adequate yearly progress at the high school level.

To help support this effort, the comprehensive centers program includes a High School Center that will initially focus on adolescent literacy, drop-out prevention, and successful transitions into and out of high school, among other topics critical to high school improvement.

The Department also administers the Striving Readers program, which aims to improve the reading skills of middle school- and high school-aged students who are reading below grade level.

Archived information on the High School Initiative.