ESEA School Improvement Grants (SIG)

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This school improvement fund is authorized under Section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The U.S. Department of Education issues formula grants to each of the State Educational Agencies that wish to participate. These School Improvement Grants (SIG) are then awarded to local school districts as competitive grants. The minimum allowable grant for this program is $50,000 per year for three years and the maximum was originally $500,000 per year for three years.

However the December 16, 2009 Appropriations Act increased the upper amount to $2 million annually for three years. Only school districts with one or more “persistently lowest achieving” schools are eligible to apply. To identify these “persistently lowest achieving schools,” the SIG requirements call for the state to identify three Tiers of schools (Tiers I, II and III) based on achievement as measured by statewide assessments in reading/language arts and mathematics and other factors (such as graduation rate and attendance). See the link below for a full definition and explanation of this process in Oregon. Districts that receive a grant must agree to implement one of four interventions in each of the Tier I and Tier II schools that the district receives SIG funding for. The four interventions include:

Closure – the district closes the school and enrolls the students in a higher achieving school within reasonable proximity to the closed school
Restart – the district turns the school over to a charter management organization (the school becomes a charter school)
Turnaround – the district replaces the principal, screens existing school staff and re-hires no more than half the teachers
Transformation – the district replaces the principal and implements a teacher evaluation model that evaluates teachers based at least in part on student achievement

SIG Defining and Identifying Tiers I, II, and III Schools RTF

04/28/2010 (63.80 KB)
Oregon has one definition and method of identifying Tier I, II, and III schools for School Improvement Grants

Transformation Conference - Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel - September 27, 2012

Keynote: Sustaining School Improvements
Dr. Carlas McCauley, U.S. Education Department

Keynote: Expanding Learning Time
Ben Lummis, National Center on Time and Learning
King School (K-8) Presentation 10/16/2012 (1.27 MB)
Portland SD
- It's Way More Boring 10/16/2012 (106.26 KB)
  New studies show that the disappearance of art, music and even recess is having a devastating effect on kids.
  Daniel Denvir
- Creativity Crisis 10/16/2012 (245.18 KB)
  For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. What went wrong—and how we can fix it.
  Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman July 10, 2010
- Turnaround Arts Initiative
  Reinvesting in Arts Education Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools
- How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition 10/16/2012 (310.05 KB)
  Michael I. Posner, Ph.D., and Brenda Patoine
  September 14, 2009
- The Virtues of Play 10/16/2012 (202.45 KB)
  Jonah Lehrer is a contributing editor at Wired and the author of Imagine, How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. He’s also contributed to the New Yorker, the NY Times Magazine and WNYC’s Radiolab.
- Value of Arts Education 10/16/2012 (376.43 KB)
  New NEA Research Report Shows Potential Benefits of Arts Education for At-Risk Youth
  Sally Gifford
- FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience 10/16/2012 (15.73 KB)
  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Harper and Row, 1990.
The Cohort Model 10/08/2012 (2.69 MB)
An Engaging, Experiential, Interdisciplinary Alternative to the 7 Period Bell Schedule
Kalapuya HS
Bethel SD
Life After the SIG 10/05/2012 (1.71 MB)
Preparing for the end of the School Improvement Grant (SIG)
Ontario HS
Ontario SD
- CHAMP Template 10/05/2012 (53.79 KB)
- SLANT 10/05/2012 (18.92 KB)
- Images of Other Classroom Management Tools 10/05/2012 (142.95 KB)
Proficiency-Based Strategies to Identify Variables that Impact a School's Accountability System 10/08/2012 (3.61 MB)
Julie Lafayette
Effective use of Formative and Summative Assessments for Student Success 10/05/2012 (1.58 MB)
Eagle Ridge HS
Klamath Falls City SD
- IC Star Response 10/16/2012 (117.57 KB)

Engaging Community Partners
Roosevelt HS
Portland SD

OR Framework for Teacher and Administrator Evaluation and Support Systems 10/12/2012 (1.49 MB)
Theresa Richards, ODE
- Team Templates Questions 11/15/2012 (155.60 KB)
A Proficiency Grows in Madras 10/05/2012 (1.16 MB)
Madras HS
Jefferson County SD
- Madras Proficiency Seed Packets
Expanding Learning Time (continued)
Ben Lummis, National Center on Time and Learning
A School-Wide Approach to School Turnaround 10/08/2012 (409.65 KB)
McKay HS
Salem/Keizer SD
Ensuring Student Learning and Growth 10/08/2012 (2.78 MB)
Through a Proficiency-Based Curriculum Aligned with the Common Core State Standards
Ontario HS
Ontario SD

Cohort 2 (2011-2014) Grants and Applications

Oregon applied for this grant again in 2011 and received $5.81 million and was instructed to use this entire amount for the first year of this three year grant. The second and third year funding will be given to Oregon during the second and third year of the grant respectively (2012 and 2013). See below for the list of schools that were eligible to apply (Tier I, II and III schools). The names and applications of the winning schools are posted below.

List of Schools by Tier in Oregon 2011 12/02/2011 (135.13 KB)
List of schools by Tier for 2011-2014 grant period.
SIG Application LEA FY 2011 04/28/2011 (1.33 MB)
This is the LEA application for the School Improvement Grant.
SIG Application SEA FY 2011 04/28/2011 (768.43 KB)
Final version of application approved by USED.
ESEA Cohort 2 SIG Applications and Awards

Cohort 1 (2010-2013) Grants and Applications

Oregon applied for this grant in 2010 and received $32.7 million to award to some of the state’s persistently lowest achieving schools (over a three year period from 2010-2013). See below for the list of schools that were eligible to apply (Tier I, II and III schools) and the names and applications of the schools that received grants (none of the Tier III schools applied, but all of the Tier I and II schools that did apply received funding).

List of Schools by Tier in Oregon – 2010 12/02/2011 (181.24 KB)
List of schools by Tier for 2010-2013 grant period.
Final School Improvement Grant LEA application 04/12/2010 (578.50 KB)
This is the FINAL LEA application for the School Improvement Grant that was submitted to the USED. The application is DUE May 7, 2010.
Final SEA Grant Application 01/29/2010 (251.50 KB)
Application is due to the USED on February 8, 2010. Oregon's final response to the questions will be posted when it is approved.
ESEA Cohort 1 SIG Applications and Awards

Other Resources

PowerPoint: Implementing the Final Requirements 01/29/2010 (1.75 MB)
Presented at the National Title I Directors Meeting in Washington DC January 21, 2010
PowerPoint: General School Improvement Grant Information 01/29/2010 (1.57 MB)
Presented at the National Title I Directors Meeting in Washington DC January 23, 2010.
Handbook on Effective Implementation of School Improvement Grants
This handbook was developed by the Center on Innovation and Improvement. It is not an official Department of Education (USED) document. It is an aid to the successful implementation of the School Improvement Grant.
USED School Improvement Website
The official USED website for the School Improvement Grant