Title I, Part A School Improvement Grants

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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.

A list of state SIG applications is posted online on the Department's webpage.  (See the Department's list of SIG state applicants).    The list of awardees will be posted as the applications are processed and approved.  (See the current list of SIG state grantees).  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.

Afterschool Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Education's guidance on SIG notes that an LEA should make available a before-or-after-school instructional program to satisfy the requirements for providing increased learning time in the Turnaround and Transformational ed reform models. In the guidance, the Department's definition of "increased learning time" embraces expanded learning opportunities such as “instruction in other subjects and enrichment activities that contribute to a well-rounded education, including, for example, physical education, service learning, and experiential and work-based learning opportunities that are provided by partnering, as appropriate, with other organizations.”  (See: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/faq.html).

Afterschool and the Turnaround Model:

Under the Turnaround model, increased learning time is specified in two areas. Section viii notes that “[LEAs can] establish schedules and implement strategies that provide increased learning time (as defined in this notice); and Section ix requires that "[LEAs] provide appropriate social-emotional and community-oriented services and supports for students."  A Turnaround model may also implement any of the required and permissible activities under the Transformation model.

Afterschool and the Transformational Model:

Under the Transformation model, increased learning time is a requirement in the section titled “Increasing learning time and creating community-oriented schools”.  LEAs that utilize the Transformational model must: “(A) Establish schedules and strategies that provide increased learning time (as defined in this notice); and (B)  Provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement.” 

Under “Permissible Activities”, an LEA may also implement other strategies that extend learning time and create community-oriented schools, such as:
(A)  Partnering with parents and parent organizations, faith- and community-based organizations, health clinics, other State or local agencies, and others to create safe school environments that meet students’ social, emotional, and health needs;
(B)  Extending or restructuring the school day so as to add time for such strategies as advisory periods that build relationships between students, faculty, and other school staff;
(C)  Implementing approaches to improve school climate and discipline, such as implementing a system of positive behavioral supports or taking steps to eliminate bullying and student harassment; or
(D)  Expanding the school program to offer full-day kindergarten or pre-kindergarten.
 

Additional strategies that are permissible under transformation models also include:

• Improving student transition from middle to high school through summer transition programs or freshman academies;
• Increasing graduation rates through, for example, credit-recovery programs, re-engagement strategies, smaller learning communities, competency-based instruction and performance-based assessments, and acceleration of basic reading and mathematics skills

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 List of Tier I and Tier II Schools SIG Award Recipients
• School Improvement Grants: Building On California's Afterschool Infrastructure to Support Student Success (April 2010) - a fact sheet created by California state afterschool advocates to assist school and afterschool leaders in identifying and integrating successful high-quality extra learning time strategies into an LEA’s SIG application.
•  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.