School Improvement Grants: Analyses of State Applications and Eligible and Awarded Schools

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program was first authorized in 2001 under Title I section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and provides formula-based federal funds to states that then competitively award these funds to districts applying for SIG on behalf of their low-performing schools. These schools use the funds to implement reforms to turn themselves around. SIG funding was substantially increased and SIG requirements were substantially modified with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). These modifications were designed to better target SIG to the nation’s lowest-achieving schools and to ensure that more aggressive improvement strategies are adopted for such schools than had been previously adopted. Thus far, since the passage of ARRA, two cohorts of schools have received SIG. Cohort I grantees include schools that received SIG during the fiscal year 2009 competition cycle to implement reforms beginning in the 2010–11 school year. Cohort II grantees include schools that received SIG during the fiscal year 2010 competition cycle to implement reforms beginning in the 2011–12 school year. Both cohorts were funded through ESEA. In addition, Cohort I funding was supplemented by ARRA.