1. ESEA REAUTHORIZATION An Overview
U.S. Department of Education

2. If an incoming freshman class of 30 represented America…
The Challenge
If an incoming freshman class of 30 represented America…
Four years later, only 23 will graduate high school …
Of those, only 15 will enroll in post-secondary education immediately following graduation…
Of those, only 9 will earn a 2 or 4 year post-secondary degree before age 27.

3. Elementary (Grades K-5)
Overarching Goal
“By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”
President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009
A Comprehensive, Cradle – to – Career Strategy
Elementary (Grades K-5)
Secondary (Grades 6-12)
Post-Secondary
Early Learning
(Birth-grade 3)
Goal: All kindergarten students arrive ready to learn and remain on track to 4th grade.
Goal: All students enter middle school with foundational skills to tackle advanced subjects.
Goal: All students graduate high school ready for college and career.
Goal: All graduates have opportunities for success in the 21st century economy.

4. Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to:
ESEA Goals
Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to:
Raise the bar
Reward excellence and growth
Increase local flexibility
Maintain the focus on closing achievement gaps

5. = NCLB Our Proposal Overview of Changes Too prescriptive
Flexibility for results
Narrowed curriculum
Well-rounded education
Focus on gaps & equity =
Lowered the bar
Raise the bar
Too punitive
Reward success
Achievement gaps: NCLB was right to illuminate achievement gaps. We know that despite some progress over the past 10 years, there are still large achievement gaps between subgroups of students, and we’re going to continue to ask schools, districts, and states to focus on closing those gaps.
As you can tell, we’re proposing significant changes from NCLB, and here are some key highlights.
Raise the bar. The goal of our PK-12 educational system is simple: every student should graduate from high school prepared for college or a career. Right now too many students don’t finish high school, and those that do aren’t necessarily prepared for the next step. NCLB lowered the bar -- We need to make sure that states set a high, meaningful bar with their standards and help all students reach those standards.
Flexibility for results: Our proposal shifts the focus from compliance oriented to results oriented. A re-envisioned federal role means giving states and districts additional flexibility in how they spend federal dollars as long as they are continuing to focus on what matters – improving outcomes for students.
Well-rounded education: We’ll provide support for states and districts to build strong instructional systems focused on a complete education, and give states the flexibility to choose to include other subjects in their accountability systems.
Reward success: NCLB was a blunt instrument that ignored growth. It mislabeled some schools as failures and didn’t recognize success. We want to start recognizing and rewarding success by providing positive incentives to schools and districts. We want to identify the high-flyers and schools showing the most improvement as models to learn from, and provide them with rewards that help them maintain their high performance.

6. Strengthen Teaching & Learning
College- and career-ready standards, determined by states.
Effective instructional supports.
High-quality assessments and access to data that informs instruction.
Accountability that is fair and rigorous.
Multiple sources of data when considering teacher and leader effectiveness.
Renew respect for the profession and the effective effort of teachers and leaders.

7. Preparing Students for College and Career
A campground has a large lawn with a soccer field that measures 100 x 50 meters. The park manager decides to keep the field open at night. A E B
Therefore, a decision needs to be made about where to place some light posts. Standard lamp posts are 13 meters high and light a circular region with a radius of 50 meters.
13 m
50 m
The diagram below (Figure 3) shows the lighting of the field when lights are placed at points D and B. What is the area of the soccer field that is NOT lit when these two light posts are used. Show your work. D F C A E B
From the Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education/University of Colorado

8. We need to tackle the challenges of our lowest-performing schools.
Fewer than 15% of high schools…
…produce half of the nation’s 1.2 million dropouts.

9. Under NCLB, these schools got worse.
Performance of bottom 5 percent elementary and middle schools over last 4 years
Percentage of students proficient

11. Persistent failure is not inevitable – research and real-world examples point to what works.
Build a positive culture of high expectations.
Ensure strong leadership and staff.
Support student achievement by strengthening the instructional program
Engage families and communities.
Change governance to provide flexibility for needed reforms.

12. Fairer, flexible, more focused accountability.
Target interventions to schools in bottom 5%, next 5%, or with stagnant achievement gaps.
Greater flexibility to identify & respond to individual school needs.
(1) Fair. Use growth and progress to measure schools.
(2) Flexible. Differentiate interventions and support.
(3) Focused. Focus on lowest-performers & achievement gaps.
Overarching Principles:
STEP 1 Local flexibility
STEP 2 Reward success
STEP 3 Respond to greatest challenges
Flexibility and rewards for schools making greatest gains or getting all subgroups on track.

13. Teachers have a dramatic impact on students, but our policies treat them as if they’re interchangeable...
Evaluation systems don’t reflect differences in teacher effectiveness or give useful feedback to teachers and school leaders.
“Satisfactory”
99%

14. …so we spend money in ways that don’t identify and support teacher needs or focus on equity.
District spending of $3.0b in federal Title IIA funding goes overwhelmingly to class size reduction and professional development, with little evidence of results.
12%
Other
10%
Incentives,
mentoring, advancement
42%
Professional development
36%
Class size reduction

15. Great Teachers and Great Leaders
Meaningful feedback & support at every stage of career, informed by fair, rigorous evaluation systems.
Targeted recruitment and high-quality teacher and leader preparation
(1) Teachers and leaders matter.
(2) Focus on outcomes.
(3) Every teacher & leader deserves feedback & support.
(4) Every student deserves effective teachers & leaders.
Overarching Principles:
Induction
Professional development
Advancement opportunities
Time for collaboration
Recognition & rewards

16. Investing in capacity-building and reform throughout the system.
Strengthen foundational support for historically underserved children
Low-income students
Students with disabilities
Other historically underserved students
Build supports to meet students’ comprehensive needs
Community and family focus
Non-academic student supports
Implement systemic reforms and pioneer new models
“Race to the Top”
“Investing in Innovation”
Expanded learning time
Innovative uses of technology
English Learners

17. Education is the civil rights issue of our generation…
Education is the civil rights issue of our generation…. Great teaching is about so much more than education; it is a daily fight for social justice.
Secretary Arne Duncan, October 9, 2009

18. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

19. A National Problem
There are approximately 5,000 chronically underperforming schools in America, roughly 5 percent of all the schools in the country.  About half are in big cities, about a third are in rural areas, and the rest are in suburbs and medium-sized towns.  As Secretary Duncan has said, “This is a national problem—urban, rural, and suburban.” 
--“Turning Around the Bottom Five Percent,” Speech by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, June 22, 2009

20. School Improvement Grants (SIG)
$4.1 billion to improve low-achieving schools nationally
$3 billion appropriated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
$546 million appropriated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009
$546 million appropriated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010
Authorized under section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA)

21. Distribution of SIG Funds
ED to State educational agencies (SEAs):
Formula grants based on each State’s share of funds under Title I, Parts A, C, and D
SEAs to local educational agencies (LEAs):
Competitive grants
LEAs to schools: $50,000 - $2 million per school

22. FOUR SIG SCHOOL INTERVENTION MODELS
Turnaround
Restart
Closure
Transformation

23. Transformation Model Overview
Teachers and Leaders
Replace principal
Implement new evaluation system
Developed with staff
Uses student growth as a significant factor
Identify and reward staff who are increasing student outcomes; support and then remove those who are not
Implement strategies to recruit, place, and retain staff
Instructional and Support Strategies
Select and implement an instructional model based on student needs
Provide job-embedded professional development designed to build capacity and support staff
Ensure continuous use of data to inform and differentiate instruction
Time and Support
Provide increased learning time
Staff and students
Provide ongoing mechanism for community and family engagement
Partner to provide social-emotional and community-oriented services and supports
Governance
Provide sufficient operating flexibility to implement reform
Ensure ongoing technical assistance
An LEA with nine or more Tier I and Tier II schools may not implement the Transformation Model in more than 50% of those schools.

24. Turnaround Model Overview
Teachers and Leaders
Replace principal
Use locally adopted “turnaround” competencies to review and select staff for school (rehire no more than 50% of existing staff)
Implement strategies to recruit, place, and retain staff
Instructional and Support Strategies
Select and implement an instructional model based on student needs
Provide job-embedded PD designed to build capacity and support staff
Ensure continuous use of data to inform and differentiate instruction
Time and Support
Provide increased learning time
Staff and students
Social-emotional and community- oriented services and supports
Governance
New governance structure
Grant operating flexibility to school leader
May also implement any of the required or permissible strategies under the Transformation Model

25. Model Selection in SIG Awarded Schools
N=49 states, DC, and BIE (Information unavailable for HI)

26. FY09 SIG Award Highlights
States have identified 2153 Tier I and II schools
~2% of all schools across the nation
Number of Tier I and II schools in a State ranged from 5 to 198
50 States + DC, BIE, and Puerto Rico have received SIG awards
831 Tier I and II schools have received awards (N=49 States, DC and BIE)
416 Tier III schools have received awards (N=49 States, DC and BIE)

27. SIG Awarded Schools by Grade Level and Type
School Type
Elementary Schools
Middle Schools
High Schools
% Regular School
96.0%
96.3%
85.7%
% Charter
3.5%
1.8%
6.4%
% Alternative
0.0%
1.1%
5.6%
% Special Education
0.5%
0.7%
0.6%
% Vocational
1.6%
N=49 states, DC, and BIE (Information unavailable for HI)

28. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
School Improvement Grant Guidance (FAQs)
Final Requirements
SEA Application
Fact sheets/Examples
State by State budget tables
Links to videos highlighting successful turnaround efforts
“What Works Clearinghouse” – Resources for Turning Around Chronically Low Performing Schools
Handbook on Effective Implementation of SIGs
Six Recorded Webinars
“What LEAs are Doing”
Planning & Implementation Tools/Resources
New Resource: “State Policies that can Support Turnaround”