School Improvement Grants

 

SIG 1003(a) 

Section 1003(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires that State Education Agencies allocate funds to local education agencies to support Title I schools identified for improvement to meet the progress goals in their school improvement, corrective action and/or restructuring plans and thereby improve student performance. 
 
Schools must target the funds toward the area(s) of identification and toward the particular subgroup(s) identified for improvement. The funds must be used to complete required Differentiated Accountability interventions and support the goals for school improvement outlined in the school's Arkansas Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (ACSIP) or Restructuring Plan.
 
* Change as a result of Flexibility - The Arkansas Department of Education received a waiver of the requirements in ESEA section 1003(a) for an SEA to distribute funds reserved under that section only to LEAs with schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.  As a result of Flexibility, section 1003(a) funds may be allocated to any LEA in order to serve focus and priority schools identified under the State-developed differentiated recognition, accountability, and support system, if ADE determines such schools are most in need of additional support.

 

SIG 1003(g)

School Improvement Grants (SIG), authorized under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Title I or ESEA), are grants to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) that SEAs use to make competitive sub-grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources in order to raise substantially the achievement of students in their lowest-performing schools. When school districts applied, they were required to indicate that they would implement one of the following four models in their persistently lowest achieving schools:

  • Turnaround Model —  Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.
  • Restart Model — Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.
  • School Closure — Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.
  • Transformation Model — Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

Under the final requirements published in the Federal Register on October 28, 2010, 1003(g) school improvement funds are to be focused on each State’s “Tier I” and “Tier II” schools.

Tier I Schools

Tier I schools are the lowest achieving 5 percent of a state’s Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, Title I secondary schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring with graduation rates below 60 percent over a number of years, and, if a state so chooses, certain Title I eligible (and participating) elementary schools that are as low achieving as the state’s other Tier I schools (“newly eligible” Tier I schools). *

  • 2011-2012 Tier I Schools:  Blytheville Charter School and ALC, Dreamland Academy, Dollarway High School, Osceola High School, McClellan Magnet High School, Augusta High School, Marvell High School, Central High School, Strong High School, Osceola Middle School, Stephens high School, Hughes High School, Earle High School, Hall High School, Jack Robey Middle School, Forrest City Jr. High School, Forrest City High School and Oak Park Elementary School.

  • 2009-2010 & 2010-2011 Tier I Schools:  Central High School, Cloverdale Middle School, Dermott High School, Dollarway High School, Dollarway Middle School, Earle High School, Hughes High School, Lynch Drive Elementary School, Marvell High School, Osceola High School, Osceola Middle School, Rose City Middle School, Trusty Elementary School and Turrell High School.

Tier II Schools

Tier II schools are the lowest achieving 5 percent of a state’s secondary schools that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I, Part A funds, secondary schools that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I, Part A funds with graduation rates below 60 percent over a number of years, and, if a state so chooses, certain additional Title I eligible (participating and non-participating) secondary schools that are as low achieving as the state’s other Tier II schools or that have had a graduation rate below 60 percent over a number of years (“newly eligible” Tier II schools).

  • 2011-2012 Tier II Schools:  Accelerated Learning Program Springdale Alternative School, Belle Point Alternative Center, J.A. Fair High School and Pine Bluff High School.

  • 2009-2010 & 2010-2011 Tier II Schools:  Hall High School, J.A. Fair High School, Jacksonville High School, Palestine-Wheatley High School and Pine Bluff High School.

* Change as a result of Flexibility - The Arkansas Department of Education received a waiver of the requirements in ESEA section 1003(g)(4) and the definition of a Tier I school in Section I.A.3 of the SIG final requirements as part of Arkansas’ ESEA Flexibility request. The SEA received this waiver and may award SIG funds to an LEA to implement one of the four SIG models in any of the State’s priority schools that meet the definition of “priority schools” set forth in the document titled ESEA Flexibility.

Definition of Arkansas’s Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools

The annual school performance data from the Arkansas assessments required under section 1111(b)(3) of the ESEA for literacy and mathematics were used to identify persistently lowest-achieving schools. Performance levels from annual assessments for 2009 through 2011 included all students completing a full academic year, as well as students completing an alternate assessment. Tier 1 schools identified as persistently lowest-achieving were determined from among 330 Title 1 participating schools that were in school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. 

Arkansas Allotted Funds:

 

SIG 1003(g) Transformation Model Grant Recipient Applications:

2012-2013

  1. Forrest City School District - Forrest City High School
  2. Hughes School District - Hughes High School
  3. Little Rock School District - McClellan Magnet High School

2011-2012

  1. Dollarway School District - Dollarway High School
  2. Helena-West Helena School District - Central High School
  3. Marvell-Elaine School District - Marvell High School
  4. Pulaski County Special School District - Jacksonville High School

2010-2011

  1. Fort Smith School District - Trusty Elementary
  2. Little Rock School District - Cloverdale Aerospace Charter School, Hall High School and J.A. Fair High School
  3. North Little Rock School District - Rose City Middle School
  4. Osceola School District - Osceola Middle School and Osceola High School

 

SIG 1003(g) Grant Non-Recipient Applications:

2012-2013

  1. Dreamland Academy
  2. Earle School District - Earle High School
  3. Forrest City School District - Forrest City Junior High School
  4. Stephens School District - Stephens High School

2011-2012

  1. Dermott School District - Dermott High School
  2. Earle School District - Earle High School
  3. Hughes School District - Hughes High School
  4. North Little Rock School District - Lynch Drive Elementary
  5. Dollarway School District - Dollarway Middle School

2010-2011

  1. Dollarway School District - Dollarway Middle School
  2. Dollarway School District - Dollarway High School
  3. Helena West Helena School District - Central High School
  4. Hughes School District - Hughes High School
  5. North Little RockSchool District - Lynch Drive Elementary
  6. Palestine-Wheatley School District  - Palestine-Wheatley High School
  7. Pulaski County Special School District - Jacksonville High School

 

For more information, please contact:

Rick Green, SIG Program Administrator
Kyron Jones, SIG Program Director
Zrano Bowles, SIG Program Director
Arkansas Department of Education
Division of Learning Services
Four Capitol Mall, Mail Slot #26
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-682-1293
Fax: 501-682-5136
 

Alphabetical List of Topics

Common Core