Budget Deal for 2017 Includes Increases for Title I, Special Education – Education Week

By Andrew Ujifusa

Federal lawmakers have agreed to relatively small spending increases for Title I programs to districts and for special education, as part of a budget deal covering the rest of fiscal 2017 through the end of September.

Title I spending on disadvantaged students would rise by $100 million up to $15.5 billion from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2017, along with $450 million in new money that was already slated to be shifted over from the now-defunct School Improvement Grants program.

And state grants for special education would increase by $90 million up to $12 billion. However, Title II grants for teacher development would be cut by $294 million, down to about $2.1 billion for the rest of fiscal 2017.

The bill would also provide $400 million for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program, also known as Title IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Title IV is a block grant that districts can use for a wide range of programs, including health, safety, arts education, college readiness, and more.

Source: Budget Deal for 2017 Includes Increases for Title I, Special Education – Politics K-12 – Education Week

$50 Million Available in Broadband Grants – Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced a second round of Broadband Infrastructure and Improvement Grants (BIIG 2.0) is available for California schools and districts to enhance their network connectivity.

“Because of a wise investment approved by the Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown, an additional $50 million is available to help schools connect to the states education network,” said Torlakson. “This will give students access to technology that will prepare them for college and careers, and give teachers more resources to improve instruction.”

BIIG 2.0 builds on the first round of funding earlier this year that provided nearly $27 million to 227 school sites. Schools and districts can start applying today for the BIIG 2.0 grants through the K-12 High Speed Network (K12HSN). Eligible applicants will be prioritized based on their external connectivity. For example, first priority will be given to school sites that would be unable to administer the states 2016 computer-based California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) assessment. Second, will be school sites with limited options to administer the CAASPP.

via $50 Million Available in Broadband Grants – Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education).

Design contracts under Measure A on VUSD agenda tonight – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

Several Measure A items — namely sizable contracts for design and environmental services for a new Will C. Wood High School stadium and design and engineering services related to the re-opening of Sierra Vista Elementary — are up for more discussion by the Vacaville Unified leaders.

Tonight, district staffers will recommend that trustees approve an agreement with HMC Architects, an international firm with an office in Sacramento, for design and engineering services related to the stadium, at the intersection of Peabody and Marshall roads. The amount is not to exceed $765,771.

At the same time, governing board members will be asked to approve an environmental services agreement with GHD Inc., an international professional services company with some Bay Area offices, related to the Wood stadium project. The agreement — not to exceed $256,766 — may include surveys, analysis and evaluation of environmental concerns under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Trustees will be asked to approve a $209,820 contract for architectural and engineering services from Architectural Nexus, a Utah-based firm with an office in Sacramento, related to Sierra Vista’s conversion. It includes the moving of portable classrooms, and fire, intercom, clock/bell, phone, and heating and cooling systems.

via Design contracts under Measure A on VUSD agenda tonight.

Arne Duncan Asked Failing Schools to Add Instructional Time; Did It Help? – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

Extended learning time has been at the heart of many of the Obama administration’s school turnaround strategies. Schools that get money through the School Improvement Grant program have to extend the school day, or year. And states with waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act have to add extra learning time for “priority” schools (those that are among the worst in the state) .

But adding extra time to the day or year is a lot easier said than done, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy, a research organization in Washington. And it’s far too early to say whether adding time really has done much to move the needle on student achievement, in part because it’s early going and in part because extended learning time is usually paired with a lot of other strategies.

via Arne Duncan Asked Failing Schools to Add Instructional Time; Did It Help? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Education Department Opens Brand-New Office of State Support – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

There are a lot of moving boxes at the U.S. Department of Education, which just opened a new office to oversee a range of federal programs, from No Child Left Behind Act waivers and School Improvement Grants to Title III grants for English-language learners and grants to states for teacher quality.

The Office of State Support will be housed within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. It will merge the Office of Student Achievement and School Accountability, which includes Title I and other programs; the Office of School Turnaround, which oversees the School Improvement Grant program; and the Office of the Deputy Secretary’s Implementation and Support Unit, which oversees Race to the Top, as well as individual programs from several other offices.

via Education Department Opens Brand-New Office of State Support – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Education Department Proposes Big Changes to School Improvement Grant Program – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

Floundering schools that receive federal turnaround dollars under the controversial School Improvement Grant program would get some new options for using the money under draft guidance slated to be published in the federal register on Monday. But they might not be getting quite as much new flexibility as some folks in Congress had hoped.

At Congress’ insistence, the proposal would permit states to move beyond the Obama administration’s prescriptions for school improvement, by partnering with an organization that has a strong track record of fixing low-performing schools, or by cooking up their own turnaround options.

via Education Department Proposes Big Changes to School Improvement Grant Program – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Education Week: Obama Administration Still Not a Fan of Adding Turnaround Models

Want additional School Improvement Grant models, beyond the four the Obama administration is already using? You’re going to have to make a really strong case for why you can’t do what you want to do under one of the four strategies already offered under SIG, according to Carmel Martin, the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy at the U.S. Department of Education.

Martin, who spoke on a panel at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Dec. 17 that focused on recent, very preliminary SIG data said that the strategies the department has outlined may not be perfect, but they set a high bar for significant action on the part of schools, districts, and states. That’s what’s needed to fix the nation’s worst performing schools, she added.

via Obama Administration Still Not a Fan of Adding Turnaround Models.

Education Week: Ed. Dept. Analysis Paints Mixed Picture of SIG Program

Two-thirds of chronically underperforming schools that tapped into a big new infusion of cash under the federal School Improvement Grant program made gains in math or reading, but another third saw student achievement decline in their first academic year, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of Education.

A quarter, or slightly more, of the schools in the program had seen their student progress slip before they got the grant, then saw gains after they received SIG funding, the analysis found.

via Ed. Dept. Analysis Paints Mixed Picture of SIG Program.

Education Week: Transparency Watch: Obama Has Touted SIG Data, So Where Is it?

In the last two debates, President Barack Obama has told the nation that one of his biggest accomplishments on K-12 is helping to spur turnarounds at hundreds of underperforming schools around the country.

“We’ve seen progress and gains in schools that were having a terrible time. And they’re starting to finally make progress,” Obama said during the third presidential debate in Florida, earlier this week.

Even though he didn’t mention it by name, Obama was clearly referring to the School Improvement Grant program—by far the administration’s biggest initiative aimed at fixing low-performing schools. The program was actually first authorized in 2002 under the No Child Left Behind Act, but the Obama administration “supercharged” it, pouring $3 billion into it under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and requiring states to employ one of four highly controversial turnaround models.

via Transparency Watch: Obama Has Touted SIG Data, So Where Is it?.

Education Week: Speakers Spotlight Obama Ed. Initiatives, GOP Spending Threats

College affordability, global competitiveness, and Republican threats to education spending were consistent themes for governors and other high-profile speakers on Tuesday’s first night of the Democratic National Convention.

“You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education,” declared San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech, in drawing a sharp and critical contrast between President Barack Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on support for schools.

via Speakers Spotlight Obama Ed. Initiatives, GOP Spending Threats.

Education Week: House Panel OKs Bill to Scrap Race to the Top, SIG, i3

President Barack Obama’s signature education programs would be scrapped under a bill approved this morning by the House Appropriations Committee panel that oversees education spending.

The measure would cut about $1.1 billion from the U.S. Department of Education’s roughly $68 billion budget, according to an analysis by the Committee for Education Funding, a lobbying coalition. The bill covers fiscal year 2013, which starts on Oct. 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee has already passed a similar measure. More information about both bills here.

The measure approved by the House appropriations subcommittee would get rid of funding for most of the programs that make up the core of the Obama administration’s education redesign agenda, including Race to the Top, the Investing in Innovation grants, and the School Improvement Grant program. It would eliminate a number of smaller, more targeted programs, including Advanced Placement, School Leadership, and Arts in Education, according to CEF.

via House Panel OKs Bill to Scrap Race to the Top, SIG, i3.

Education Week: House K-12 Spending Bill Would Scrap Race to the Top

The Obama administration’s signature K-12 initiative—the Race to the Top competition—would get axed under a proposal put forward by Republicans on the House panel that oversees K-12 spending.

Two other major Obama priorities—the School Improvement Grant program, which provides $533 million to help turn around low-performing schools, and the nearly $150 million Investing in Innovation grant program—would also be eliminated, according to a press release put out by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The spending bill was introduced today by Republicans on the House subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services, Education and Related agencies. It would cover fiscal year 2013, the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1. The panel is expected to vote on the legislation tomorrow.

But it looks like not all of the administration’s favorite programs would be big losers. The bill appears to renew two new competitive-grant programs. One is Promise Neighborhoods, which helps communities pair wraparound services with education programs. Promise Neighborhoods would get nearly $60 million, the same level as last year. That’s not as much the $100 million President Barack Obama wanted for the program.

via House K-12 Spending Bill Would Scrap Race to the Top.

Education Week: Turnaround Schools Struggle With Staffing, Time, and Climate

Anyone who has taken a close look at the federal School Improvement Grant program—or turnarounds in general—probably knows that school staffing, scheduling, and climate can be among the toughest challenges to tackle. The Center on Education Policy at George Washington University, which has already done some must-read studies of SIG, took a deeper look at the these three tricky issues in a trio of reports out today.

The reports relied both on a survey of 46 Title I directors, conducted by CEP in the winter of 2011-12, and on “case studies” of SIG schools in three very different states: Idaho, Maryland, and Michigan. (Other reports using the survey and case-studies are available here and here.) Background on the very complicated program, including its four complex models here.

via Turnaround Schools Struggle With Staffing, Time, and Climate.

Education Week: Senate Appropriations Committee Adds School Improvement Option

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill June 14 that would make some big changes to the $533 School Improvement Grant program.

The measure, which would provide about $68.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Education, would allow add a fifth option to the four highly-controversial choices spelled out in the original regulations for the SIG program. The bill would permit schools to use a “whole school reform model” that has at least as much research to back it up as programs that won a “validation” grant (the middle level) under the federal Investing in Innovation grant competition.

That’s good news for schools that want to partner with programs like Success for All, which works on turnarounds and has won multiple i3 grants. Success for All got a “Scale Up grant” in the first round of i3 and would meet the benchmark laid out by the panel.

via Senate Appropriations Committee Adds School Improvement Option.

The Educated Guess: SIGnificant improvementS

By Kathryn Baron

John Fensterwald contributed to this report.

California received a double dose of good news this week about the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced yesterday that a $63 million check is in the mail to cover the second-year funding for schools awarded SIG grants in round two. And, perhaps more promising, a new study found that student test scores in SIG schools showed significant improvement in the first year.

via SIGnificant improvementS – by Kathryn Baron.

Education Week: Early School Improvement Grant Data Looks Promising, Duncan Says

By Alyson Klein

So can the biggest federal investment—and tightest federal strings ever—actually make a difference for the nation’s lowest-performing schools?

That’s the $3.5 billion question behind the School Improvement Grant program, which got supersized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And so far, the very, very preliminary answer seems to be that the program holds promise.

via Early SIG Data Looks Promising, Duncan Says.

Education Week: SIG Program Promising Despite Bumpy First Year, Urban Districts Say

The School Improvement Grant program, with its controversial, much-maligned four models, is largely seen in Washington as Exhibit A when it comes to federal overreach in K-12 education. But a majority of urban districts think SIG will make a difference in the long-run for schools that are struggling the most, according to a report released today by the Council of the Great City Schools, an organization in Washington which represents 65 of the nation’s largest school districts.

via SIG Program Promising Despite Bumpy First Year, Urban Districts Say.