The U.S. Department of Education just announced grant awards to 10 states
to help turn around failing schools, and Michigan is a big winner, second only
to Texas, with a $16.7 million allocation.
U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan said that 10 states will receive more than $95 million to
continue efforts to turn around their persistently lowest-achieving schools
through awards from the Department’s School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. The states
receiving  grants are: Hawaii,
Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon and
Texas.  
“When schools fail, our children and
neighborhoods suffer,” Duncan said. “Turning around our
lowest-performing schools is hard work but it’s our responsibility, and
represents a tremendous opportunity to improve the life chances of children. We
owe it to our children, their families and the broader community. These School
Improvement Grants are helping some of the lowest-achieving schools provide a
better education for students who need it the most.”
According to the DoE,
community engagement is an essential tactic for making school turnaround more
effective.   The Department  is
releasing a paper, Strategies for Community
Engagement in School Turnaround, which examines engagement in
action.  Between April and August of 2013 Duncan’s team conducted reviews
of 11 states and districts—urban and rural—with engaged communities surrounding
low-performing schools.
The enquiry yielded
five primary lessons or takeaways about successful community engagement: make
engagement a priority and establish an infrastructure, communicate proactively
in the community, listen to the community and respond to its feedback, offer
meaningful opportunities to participate and turn community supporters into
leaders and advocates.
School Improvement
Grants are awarded to the states and then competitive sub-grants are allocated
to school districts that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the
strongest commitment to provide their own resources.
Under the Obama
administration, the SIG program has invested up to $2 million per school at
more than 1,500 of the country’s lowest-performing schools, according to the
DoE. Early findings show positive momentum and progress in many SIG schools, with
some of the greatest gains in small towns and rural communities.
States announced today
and their grant amounts are:
Hawaii                                    
$1,783,393   
Louisiana                                
$9,572,881 
Maryland 
                              
$6,619,995   
Maine                                     
$1,703,898   
Michigan                                 
$16,757,681   
Montana                                 
$1,486,422   
North
Dakota                          
$1,110,048
Nevada                                   
$3,725,820
Oregon                                   
$5,530,729
Texas                                      
$46,773,565     

Recent Posts: