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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides $3 billion for the Title I, Part A School Improvement Grants (SIG) program as part of an effort to improve 5,000 of the nation’s lowest performing schools over the course of the next five years.  The ARRA School Improvement funds are augmented by $546 million in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations for a combined total of $3.546 billion.  SIG funds are awarded by state education agencies (SEAs) to local education agencies (LEAs) to close, transform, restart or turnaround low performing schools.  Afterschool is mentioned in US Department of Education guidance as part of turnaround and transformational strategies.

States were required to submit application to receive their SIG funds by February 8, 2010.  The plans must list the pool of schools eligible to apply for funds, and must include a draft of the application that local education agencies (LEAs) will use to apply for SIG funds to close, transform, restart or turnaround low performing schools.

 
The U.S. Department of Education has mandated states to identify three tiers of Title I schools that can qualify for the School Improvement Grants, with the greatest priority reserved for the lowest tier of chronically underperforming schools.  The Department defines the three tiers of eligible schools as follows:

• Tier I - The lowest-achieving five percent of Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring in a state, or the five lowest-performing Title I schools, whichever number is greater.
• Tier II – Equally low-achieving secondary schools that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I funds.  The Department has talked about a new focus on the 2,000+ high schools and affiliated feeder middle schools that are responsible for the highest drop out rates in the nation.  Districts can obtain waivers to make these schools eligible for School Improvement Grants.
• Tier III – The remaining Title I schools in improvement, corrective action or restructuring that are not Tier I schools in the state.

The Department will post state SIG applications online once they are approved.  In the meantime, advocates may be able to get a copy from their state departments of education.  Another resource to consult is the list of the 2,000 lowest performing high schools developed by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University along with America’s Promise Alliance. 

Read the final Notice and Application  for the Title I School Improvement Funds (published December 3, 2009). Also see a summary  of updates made to SIG in January 2010, which primarily expand the group of schools that are eligible to receive SIG funds in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

About the Award Process

The Department will award grants to each state based on the proportional share of funds it receives under Title I.  State Education Agencies (SEAs) are authorized to provide competitive sub-grants to eligible Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that apply for funds and that have demonstrated the greatest commitment to serve Title I Schools that meet the lowest performing school guidelines under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 

The Department states that FY2009 school improvement funds are available for obligation by SEAs and LEAs through September 30, 2011.  In its application for these funds, an SEA may request a waiver of the period of availability to permit the SEA and its LEAs to obligate the funds through September 30, 2013.

Resources:

•  US Department of Education's Summary of Approved State SIG Applications 
• Title I School Improvement Program Description
• The Department of Education posted a PowerPoint presentation on the Title I School Improvement Grants.  Scroll down to the Title I School Improvement Section and click on the PowerPoint to open that link.
• From the Department of Education: Examples of Successful Efforts that have incorporated the four reform models of intervention for turning around underperforming schools.