Mary Stark Elementary School wants to change how it uses some federal funds.

The school wants to use its federal Title I funds, which provides extra reading assistance for low-income students, for all students. It will ask the Mandan School Board on Monday if it can submit the paperwork to the North Dakota Department of Instruction to change its Title I designation from targeted assistance to schoolwide assistance.

"It is a good step for Mary Stark to develop what to do over the course of the year and build on the foundation we have," Principal Dave Steckler said,

Currently, students at Mary Stark must qualify for assistance through Title I. Students must be from low-income households to qualify. Schools use participation in the free and reduced lunch program for eligibility. The free and reduced-price lunch program provides meals at a reduced price or free, based on family income and size. About 64 percent of students qualified for free or reduced lunch in 2005.

The students who are chosen for Title I assistance get extra help in reading. At Mary Stark, they use a balanced literacy program and sometimes reading recovery, depending on the student. These programs can only be used for the Title I qualifying students.

Steckler would like to use all reading resources available at the school for all of the students at the school. The school uses a basal reading system, which consists of multi-level reading textbooks, and a balanced literacy program to teach reading and writing.

Changing to schoolwide Title I does not change how much money the school receives. It changes the way it can spend the money. When the program is not schoolwide, it can spend the money for Title I students only and the resources that are bought only can be used by those students and teachers.

Under a schoolwide program, anyone can use the resources, and the teaching setup can take on different forms. They could keep the current structure, add team teaching, use a coach or use some other format.

If the change is approved, Steckler would like to start it next school year. Before it gets that far, the school must go through a four-phase application process. First they must come up with their goals and objectives.

Steckler has gone through this process in Williston, where he took a school to schoolwide Title I in 2001.

"I experienced at the previous school, taking it out of targeted assistance and putting it into play for everyone makes students better readers and writers," Steckler said.

He saw test scores increase, which helps with meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind. Mandan elementary schools met the testing requirements for the federal accountability law. The target for the number of students to pass, however, will continue to change until all students meet 100 percent proficiency on state assessment tests.

Two other Mandan schools are in the process of becoming schoolwide Title I. Fort Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary schools also are in the process to switch to schoolwide. They are awaiting final word from the department of instruction.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)