School Improvement Grants (SIG)

Title I School Improvement Grants

PURPOSE:

The Title I School Improvement Grants will provide states and districts the money they need to leverage change and turn around schools. Authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2002, the program did not receive funding until fiscal year 2007. The current $3.5 billion provides an unprecedented opportunity for states and districts to implement significant reforms to transform chronically low-performing schools.

CURRENT PROGRAM OPERATIONS:

Under the ESEA, states and districts use school improvement funds for a range of interventions, including restructuring Title I schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress for five years. So far, the vast majority of these chronically underperforming schools have adopted the least rigorous restructuring intervention option required by the ESEA.

OVERVIEW OF FINAL REQUIREMENTS:

Goal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 SIG Funds

To dramatically transform school culture and increase student outcomes in each State's persistently lowest-achieving schools, including secondary schools, through robust and comprehensive reforms.

Grants

For FY 2009, there is $3.546 billion available for SIG grants under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). These funds will be awarded by formula to States, which will then make competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs). State applications are available at www.ed.gov/programs/sif/applicant.html and are due to the Department of Education by February 8, 2010.

Eligible Schools

Each State must give priority in awarding SIG funds to LEAs with persistently lowest-achieving schools (which States will identify in their applications for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Phase II funding). For the purposes of the SIG program, these schools are:

Tier I schools: Any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that —
Is among the lowest-achieving five percent i of Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring in the State; or
Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent over a number of years;
Tier II schools: Any secondary school that is eligible for, but does not receive, Title I funds that —
Is among the lowest-achieving five percent ii of secondary schools in the State that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I funds; or
Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent over a number of years.
In addition, a State may award SIG funds to LEAs with Tier III schools, which are defined as any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that is not a Tier I school. States may set additional criteria to differentiate among these schools, which might include schools with low absolute performance but high growth rates over a number years, or the bottom 6–10 percent of Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.

What changes are we requiring schools to make?

LEAs must identify the Tier I and Tier II schools that they want to transform, and then determine which of the four school intervention models described below is most suited to the needs of the school and the resources available to the LEA:

Turnaround model. Replace the principal and rehire no more than 50 percent of the staff, and grant the principal sufficient operational flexibility (including in staffing, calendars/time, and budgeting) to implement fully a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student outcomes.

Restart model. Convert a school or close and reopen it under a charter school operator, a charter management organization, or an education management organization that has been selected through a rigorous review process.

School closure. Close a school and enroll the students who attended that school in other schools in the LEA that are higher achieving.

Transformation model. Implement each of the following strategies: (1) replace the principal and take steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness; (2) institute comprehensive instructional reforms; (3) increase learning time and create community-oriented schools; and (4) provide operational flexibility and sustained support.

An LEA with more than nine Tier I and Tier II schools may not implement the transformation model in more than 50 percent of these schools. If a school has begun implementation of one of the four models or components of one of the models within the last two years, it may apply to use SIG funds to continue to implement the full model. In Tier III schools, an LEA may implement any of these four models but may also choose other school improvement strategies.

Capacity

An LEA is only required to serve the Tier I schools it has the capacity to serve, but an LEA that does not serve any Tier I schools may not apply for funding to serve only its Tier III schools. Unless all Tier I schools in a State are served, the State must carry over 25 percent of its FY 2009 SIG funds and combine them with FY 2010 SIG funds (depending on availability of appropriations).

Goals and Reporting

Each LEA must set annual goals for student achievement, subject to approval by the State, on the State's ESEA assessments (i.e., reading/language arts and mathematics). For each Tier I and Tier II school receiving SIG funds, SEAs will be required to report the identity of the school, the intervention adopted, and the amount of funding provided. In addition, the State must report annually on outcome measures (i.e., improvements in student performance) and leading indicators (e.g., student and teacher attendance rates) for each Tier I and Tier II school. A State may use these data to determine whether to renew an LEA's SIG award for a second and third year, if extended through a waiver of the period of availability.

SEA Role

In addition to identifying the State's Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III schools, the State must:

1)    Establish criteria to evaluate the overall quality of LEA applications and LEA capacity to implement fully and effectively the required interventions. Specifically, the State must use these criteria to determine that LEAs have:

analyzed the needs of the Tier I and Tier II schools identified in their applications and selected an intervention for each school;
demonstrated the capacity to use SIG funds to provide adequate resources and related support to each Tier I and Tier II school identified in their applications in order to implement fully and effectively the selected intervention in each school; and
developed a budget with sufficient funds to implement the selected interventions fully and effectively in each Tier I and Tier II school identified in their applications as well as to support school improvement activities in Tier III schools throughout the period of availability of those funds (taking into account any waiver extending that period received by either the SEA or the LEA).
2)    Establish criteria to assess LEA commitment to:

design and implement the interventions; recruit, screen, and select external providers, if applicable, to ensure their quality;
align other resources with the interventions;
modify their practices or policies, if necessary, to be able to implement the interventions fully and effectively; and
sustain the reforms after the funding period ends.
3)    Prioritize, first, LEA applications that commit to serve Tier I and Tier II schools and, then, LEA applications that commit to serve Tier I schools.

4)    Award SIG funds to eligible LEAs in amounts of sufficient size and scope to implement the selected interventions.

5)    Monitor LEA implementation of the selected interventions.

6)    Hold each LEA accountable annually for meeting, or making progress toward meeting, student achievement goals and leading indicators in each Tier I and Tier II school.

7)    Post on its Web site, within 30 days of awarding SIG grants, all final LEA applications and a summary of the grants.

8)    Report school-level data on student achievement outcomes and leading indicators in Tier I and Tier II schools.

Waivers

To support effective implementation of the SIG program, the Department encourages States to apply for waivers to:

1)    Extend the period of availability of SIG funds until September 30, 2013.

2)    "Start over" in the school improvement timeline for Tier I schools implementing a turnaround or restart model.

3)    Implement a schoolwide program in a Tier I school that does not meet the 40 percent poverty eligibility threshold.

4)    Serve a Tier II school.

A State may request these waivers through its application for a SIG grant. If a State does not apply for one or more of these waivers, an LEA may apply separately.

i Or the five lowest-achieving Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring in the State, whichever number of schools is greater.

ii Or the five lowest-achieving secondary schools in the State that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I funds, whichever number of schools is greater.