School Improvement Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions

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1 School Improvement Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions GENERAL INFORMATION What is the School Improvement Grant Program? The School Improvement Grant (SIG) program is a federal formula-based funding program contained in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It is intended to provide resources to improve student achievement in low-achieving Title I schools. Under SIG, states apply for their allotment of federal funds and then provide a substantial portion of those funds to eligible districts by conducting a state application process. The eligible districts must use those funds to reform low-achieving schools as defined by federal guidelines. Pennsylvania s application for approximately $140 million is pending; when it is approved by the U.S. Department of Education, districts may apply to PDE for a share of the funds. How does the School Improvement Grant Program differ from Race to the Top? The School Improvement Grant Program resembles Race to the Top because both programs require certain districts receiving federal funds to implement one of four school intervention models in their persistently low performing schools. However, the School Improvement Grant program differs from Race to the Top in four key ways. 1. SIG does not require the submission of a Memorandum of Understanding in order to qualify for funds; RTTT does. This means a district can apply for SIG funds prior to engaging in any substantial discussions with the union. 2. The implementation timeline for SIG is substantially faster than for RTTT. Districts that apply for SIG funds are expected to begin to implement one of four intervention models in each designated school at the beginning of the school year. 3. Schools that are eligible for SIG and RTTT funds differ. RTTT provides funds to support districtwide reforms in every district that submitted a signed MOU to the state. It also includes targeted funds for designated low achieving or turnaround schools that will implement an intervention model. SIG funds may only be granted to specific Title I and Title I-eligible schools that have been designated as either a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III school for the purposes of the SIG grant process. Different criteria define the two sets of schools, and consequently RTTT turnaround schools and SIG Tier I, II, and III schools are not the same. A complete list of Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III schools is available on the PDE website or from PSEA. 4. SIG funds are sure to arrive in Pennsylvania within the next couple of months; RTTT funds have not yet, and ultimately may not be awarded to Pennsylvania. RTTT is a competitive grant program, so Pennsylvania must compete against other states to secure a grant and will find out by September if its application is successful. SIG funds are distributed to all states via a formula, not a competitive grant process. In other words, Pennsylvania is certain to receive $140 million in SIG funds, and these funds will be distributed by PDE to those districts with Tier I, Tier II or Tier III schools that apply for funds. What is the difference between a Tier I, Tier II and Tier III school in the SIG program? Tier I schools are defined as any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that is among the lowest-achieving five percent of those schools in the state or a high school that has had a graduation rate below 60 percent for several years. Tier II schools are defined as any secondary school that is eligible for, but does not receive, Title I, Part A funds and is among the lowest-achieving five percent of such secondary schools in the state or is a high school that has had a graduation rate below 60 percent for several years.

2 Tier III schools are defined as any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that is not a Tier I school. A complete list of Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III schools is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website or from PSEA. The key practical difference between SIG and RTTT is that the SIG program prioritizes Tier I and Tier II schools. These are the schools that will be dealing with SIG in the coming months, and they must implement an intervention model in order to receive SIG funds. What does it mean if a school is not on the SIG list of Tier I, Tier II or Tier III schools? Only schools listed on the PDE list of Tier I, II and III schools are eligible to receive SIG funds. Schools that are not on that list are not eligible to receive any SIG funds. These schools also are not required by SIG to implement any of the four SIG intervention models. SCHOOL INTERVENTION MODELS What are the four intervention models that schools need to implement in order to receive SIG funds? These four SIG intervention models mimic the four models included in the federal Race to the Top program: transformation, turnaround, restart, and closure. Transformation model: A district implementing the transformation model in a participating school must implement each of the following strategies: Replace the principal (unless hired within the last two years); Grant the principal operational flexibility; Provide ongoing, sustained, job-embedded professional development for all instructional staff; Implement strategies to recruit, place, and retain highly-effective staff; Implement standards-aligned assessments, curriculum, instruction, and interventions; Promote the continuous use of student data to inform and differentiate instruction; Establish schedules and strategies that provide increased learning time; and Provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement. Turnaround model: A district implementing the turnaround model in a participating school must undertake several tasks: Replace the principal (unless hired within the last two years) and at least 50 percent of staff; Grant the principal operational flexibility; Use evaluation systems for teachers and principals that include data on student growth; identify and reward educators who increase achievement and remove those who do not; Implement strategies to recruit, place, and retain highly effective staff; Increase learning time for students; Provide ongoing, sustained, job-embedded professional development for all instructional staff; Adopt a new governance structure which may include establishing a turnaround office ; Implement standards-aligned assessments, curriculum, instruction, and interventions; Promote the continuous use of student data to inform and differentiate instruction; Establish schedules and implement strategies that provide increased learning time; and Provide appropriate social-emotional and community-oriented services and supports. Restart model: A restart model is one in which a district converts a school or closes and reopens a school under a charter school operator, a charter management organization (CMO), or an education management organization (EMO). A restart model must enroll, within the grades it serves, any former student who wishes to attend the school.

3 School closure: School closure occurs when a district closes a school and enrolls the students who attended that school in other schools in the district that are higher achieving or in a newly opened school. Do all schools that qualify for SIG funds need to implement one of the four intervention models? All Tier I and Tier II schools that receive SIG funds must implement one of the four intervention models defined by the SIG program. If funds are available after all Tier I and Tier II schools identified in the District s application are funded, SIG funds may be used to implement other school reforms in Tier III schools that are not specifically defined within one of the four intervention models. PDE has not revealed what reforms it may expect or require Tier III schools to implement. We do know that districts must apply separately for SIG funds for Tier III schools, and the funds must be used to support research-based strategies that meet the particular needs of the Tier III school. What is the Rule of 9? The Rule of 9 in the SIG Regulations states that any district with nine or more Tier I and Tier II schools included in their application may not implement the transformation intervention model in more than 50 percent of those schools. What is the definition of increased learning time, as used in the transformation and turnaround intervention models? Increased learning time means using a longer school day, week, and/or year schedule to significantly increase the total number of school hours. The additional hours can be used to increase instruction in core academic subjects, increase instruction in other subjects and provide enrichment activities that contribute to a well-rounded education, and/or provide time for teachers to collaborate and engage in professional development within and across grades and subjects. If a district lacks capacity to implement any of the four interventions in all of its Tier I schools, can the district apply for SIG funds to provide other services to some of its Tier I schools? No. The only services a district may provide to a Tier I school using SIG funds are services related to the implementation of one of the four interventions models. If the district lacks capacity to implement one of those models in some or all of its Tier I schools, the district may not use any SIG funds in those schools. IMPLEMENTATION What is the timeline for implementing an intervention model in a Tier I or Tier II school? The United States Department of Education expects that the majority of SIG funds will be used to fully implement intervention models in Tier I and Tier II schools in the school year. Certain intervention model components, such as increased learning time and job-embedded professional development, may need to occur later in the implementation process. Additionally, in some cases a district may need to take precursor actions to implement an intervention model in a Tier I school. Therefore, if not every Tier I school is able to use SIG funds to implement an intervention model in the school year, the state must carry over 25 percent of the funds to distribute in the following year. This is intended to give districts more time to prepare to implement a SIG intervention in those Tier I schools that are not ready to implement interventions at the beginning of the school year.

4 USE OF FUNDS Can a district use SIG funds for general district-level improvement activities in addition to directing the funds toward individual schools? A district may only use SIG funds to pay for district-level activities to support implementation one of the four school intervention models in each Tier I and Tier II school it commits to serve. A district may also use SIG funds to support other related school improvement strategies in the Tier III schools it commits to serve once it has met its obligations to serve identified Tier I and Tier II schools. A district may not use SIG funds to support district-level activities for schools that are not receiving SIG funds. Can the state grant to a district a smaller amount of SIG funds than the district requests in its application? Yes. A state s decision to award SIG funds to a district does not obligate the state to award all of the funds requested by the district. The state must award at least $50k to each school identified in the District s application for each year of the SIG program.

5 APPLICATION When will districts be able to apply for SIG funds? Districts will be able to apply sometime this summer, but the exact dates are still unfortunately unclear. The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has applied for $140 million in SIG funds from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). When PDE s application is approved by USDOE, PDE anticipates opening the application window within a week and keeping the application window open for one month. This initial application window will be for districts with Tier I and Tier II schools only. USDOE has not said when it will approve PDE s application for funds. USDOE must, however, distribute all funds to states by September 20, When will districts with Tier III schools be eligible to apply for SIG funds? PDE s application to USDOE says it will hold two different competitions: one for Tier I and II schools, and then a second one following the award of funds to Tier I and II schools, which will be for Tier III schools. The second competition for Tier III schools will only happen if funds are available after Districts apply for Tier I and Tier II schools and PDE awards such funds. It is impossible to say if Tier III schools will receive SIG funds until after all Tier I and Tier II requests for funds are processed. Additionally, a district with Tier I and II schools may only apply for funds for its Tier III schools if it has served all of its Tier I and II schools. Is a district required to commit to serve every Tier I school in the district? A district that applies for a SIG grant must commit to implement an intervention model in each of its Tier I schools unless the district demonstrates in its application that it lacks sufficient capacity to do so. Can a district omit any of the actions outlined in the SIG application and implement its own version of an intervention model? No. A district implementing an intervention model in one or more of its schools must take all of the actions required in that intervention model. A district may take additional actions to supplement those that are required as part of an intervention model, but it may not implement its own version of a model that does not include all of the required elements. What is the definition of staff as that term is used in the discussion of a turnaround model (for example, the requirement that 50 percent of staff be replaced)? The U.S. Department of Education says that staff includes all instructional staff. A district has discretion to determine whether or not staff also includes non-instructional staff. In determining the number of staff members that must be replaced for the turnaround model, a district should count the total number of staff positions (however staff is defined) within the school, including any positions that may be vacant at the time of the implementation.

6 UNION ISSUES The district wants to apply for SIG funds, but the local does not want to implement one of the four intervention models. Can the local refuse to participate in SIG? The SIG program does not require districts to attain union approval prior to submitting the SIG application to the state. However, SIG does not authorize the district to violate the collective bargaining agreement or state law. Consequently, full implementation of one of the four intervention models may require the district to bargain with the local. If any portion of an intervention model would violate the collective bargaining agreement, the district cannot unilaterally implement that component of the model. Can the district implement the SIG intervention model if the district and union cannot come to agreement on interventions that are subject to collective bargaining by September 2010? School districts applying for SIG grants must still comply with Act 195, Act 88, the School Code, and local collective bargaining agreements in implementing any of the four intervention models. SIG requirements do not preempt federal, state, or local laws, or collective bargaining agreements. Therefore, it is PSEA s position that until agreement is reached, a district could only implement those elements of the intervention model that are not subject to collective bargaining.