SIGnificant Concerns

David DeSchryver:

If the U.S. Department of Education fancies itself a school reform organization, then the School Improvement Grant is one of its most important programs -- if not the most important.

-- Check out the cross-post with our good (and cynical, insightful) friends at Title I-derland. --

The purpose of SIG is to transform "persistently lowest achieving schools" into good ones and, in so doing, demonstrate that the federal government can invest our money wisely. Of course, that is no small task. If this flops, then maybe ED should reconsider its role as a reform organization. The stakes are that high.

Most readers probably know how the program works. Basically, the state identifies the bottom 5 percent of its persistently lowest achieving schools, including Title I and Title I-eligible high schools with a graduation rate of 60 percent or less. Once those schools are identified, districts can apply for SIG funds on behalf of those schools, but only if they implement one of four prescriptive school intervention models.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 5, 2011 1:46 AM
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