Analysis: ED Proposes Wider Eligibility, Narrower Focus for School Improvement Grants

Washington, Aug. 27 — Proposed guidelines for targeting $3.5 billion in Title I school improvement money would require participating states to give priority to districts that use radical interventions to transform their lowest performing schools — including, for the first time, middle and high schools that don’t receive Title I funds.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) previously announced its intention to maximize the impact of the School Improvement Grant program by releasing both the regular school year 2009-10 and stimulus portions of the fund at the same time. But the proposal submitted yesterday in the Federal Register goes much further.