School Improvement
Grants Webinar – Tier I
and II Schools
April 21, 2010
Proposed Timeline
Submit Letter of Intent
March 30, 2010
Submit Tier I and II
Applications
*May 14, 2010*
Approve Tier I and II
Applications
TBD
If sufficient funds remain to approve additional LEA
applications:
Submit Tier III
Applications
Funds Available
June 15, 2010
July 1, 2010
Funding
• LEAs
may request from
$50,000 to $2,000,000 per
school per year
• Funds are renewable for up to
3 years
• Funds available through
September 30, 2013
Four Intervention Models
– At a glance in NC
Turnaround
(4 in NC)
Restart
(1 in NC)
Tier I
Tier II
Closure
Transformation
(21 in NC)
Turnaround
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Replace the principal
Screen staff and rehire no more than 50 percent
Implement strategies to recruit and retain staff
Provide ongoing job-embedded professional
development
Adopt a new governance structure
Implement a vertically-aligned instructional
program
Promote continuous use of data (including
formative, interim, and summative)
Provide increased learning time
Provide appropriate community services and
supports
Transformation
Replace the principal
• Use rigorous, transparent, equitable evaluation
systems for teachers and the principal
• Identify and reward school leaders and remove
teachers determined to be ineffective after
ample opportunity for improvement is provided
• Provide ongoing job-embedded professional
development
• Implement strategies to recruit and retain staff
--------------------------------------------------------------• Provide increased learning time
• Provide appropriate community services and
supports
•
Restart
• Convert
the school
• Close the school and reopen under a
charter management organization
(CMO) or an education management
organization (EMO)
• Enroll any former student who
wishes to attend the school
Closure
• Close
the school
• Enroll the students in
other higher achieving
schools in the LEA
Frequently Asked
Questions
May an SEA award SIG funds to an
LEA for a Tier I or Tier II school that
has implemented, in whole or in part, a
turnaround model, restart model, or
transformation model within the last
two years?
•
Yes. The two years referenced are
those for which an LEA has complete
achievement data. In other words, the
“last two years” are the 2007–2008 and
2008–2009 school years.
May an LEA use SIG funds to
offset transportation costs
associated with providing
increased learning time?
•
Generally, providing transportation to students in
order for them to attend school is a regular
responsibility an LEA carries out for all students
and, thus, may not be paid for with Federal funds
unless specifically authorized. However, an LEA
may use SIG funds to cover transportation costs
if the costs are directly attributable to
implementation of a school intervention model,
are reasonable and necessary, and exceed the
costs the LEA would have incurred in the
absence of its implementation of the model.
May an SEA award an LEA a
lesser amount of SIG funds
than the LEA requests in its
application?
Yes. An SEA’s decision to
award SIG funds to a particular
LEA does not obligate the SEA
to award the LEA all of the
funds it requested.
Can a Title I participating school
“start over” in the school
improvement timeline?
For Title I participating schools that
implement a turnaround or restart
model, the schools will “start over”
in the school improvement timeline.
Under SIG, what does “increased
learning time” mean?
Increase the total number of school hours
to provide time for:
• Instruction in core academic subjects;
• Instruction in other subjects and
enrichment activities that contribute to a
well-rounded education; and
• Teachers to collaborate, plan, and
engage in professional development
within and across grades and subjects.
Under SIG, what does “jobembedded professional
development” mean?
Occurs on a regular basis (e.g., daily,
weekly);
• Aligned with standards and plans;
• Involves collaborative work facilitated by
coaches or mentors;
• Requires active engagement by
participants; and
• Focuses on understanding what and
how students are learning.
•
Are there specific reporting
requirements for SIG funds?
Yes. The State must report annually on
outcome measures (i.e., improvements
in student performance) and leading
indicators for each Tier I and Tier II
school. The LEA must report its
progress on achieving the goals it
establishes in the initial LEA application.
A State may use these data to
determine whether to renew an LEA's
SIG award for a second and third year.
Leading Indicators
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Number of minutes within the school year;
Student participation rate on state
assessments by subgroup;
Dropout rate;
Student attendance rate;
Number and percentage students completing
advanced coursework, early college, or dualenrollment;
Discipline incidents;
Truants;
Distribution of teachers by performance level
on LEA’s teacher evaluation system; and
Teacher attendance rate
An SEA must post on its Web site a
summary of the SIG grants it awarded,
including the following information:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Name and NCES identification
number of each LEA awarded a
grant;
Amount of each LEA’s grant;
Name and NCES identification
number of each school to be
served; and
Type of intervention to be
implemented in each Tier I and
Tier II school being served.
All LEA SIG Applications.
Questions of late…
Will the PRC 117/143 Chart of
Accounts be updated?
Clerical assistance
• Security assistance/SROs
• CTE
• Counselors
• Principal incentives/bonuses
• Indirect Costs
•
For summer program's transportation:
Can we do one invoice for the
transportation (which would include the
bus driver working at the school during
the time of the program) or are there
going to be additional lines added for
this activity?
When do we need to send a
calendar waiver to have the
school year extended?
• NC
Public School Law
115c-84.2 refers to “a
minimum of 180 days and
1,000 hours of instruction”.
If funds are not available for
sustainability after the three
years, what will be the
consequences?
The funds are intended to put initiatives in
place that would sustain continued
improvement after the funds are no
longer available. In other words, SIG
funds are intended to build capacity of
staff and leadership during the period of
funding.
How many copies of the SIG
application are we required to
submit to DPI for each school?
• Original
copy.
signature, one
Questions…