Dear Select County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT COHORT 4 APPLICATION RELEASE

This letter is to announce the School Improvement Grant (SIG) Cohort 4 local educational agency (LEA) Request for Application (RFA) and provide you with details regarding the SIG program.

Request for Application Announcement

On March 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released the School Improvement Grant Application for Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016 New Awards Competition under Section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Although the SIG is not one of the programs extended through the Every Student Succeeds Act, the fiscal years (FYs) 2015 and 2016 SIG funds that Congress appropriated for the SIG program remain available for obligation.

At its May 2016 meeting, the State Board of Education approved the California Department of Education’s (CDE) request to apply for the School Improvement Grant Application for Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016 New Awards Competition. California’s application is pending review by the ED, and if approved, California will receive approximately $173 million to make competitive subgrants to eligible LEAs.

In anticipation of ED approval, the CDE has released an RFA for California districts and charter schools to apply on behalf of their eligible schools. The LEA SIG Cohort 4 RFA can be found on the CDE SIG Web page located at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/sw/t1/sig09.asp.

California will provide its list of eligible schools in July 2016. Districts and schools that anticipate being on the list of eligible schools are encouraged to begin working on the LEA SIG Cohort 4 RFA in advance of the release of the list of eligible schools.

The LEA SIG Cohort 4 RFA is due to the CDE before 4 p.m. on August 8, 2016.

Schools currently served with Cohort 2 or Cohort 3 SIG funds are not eligible to apply.

School Improvement Grant Program Information

The SIGs are federal grants that State Educational Agencies use to make competitive subgrants to LEAs that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources in order to substantially raise the performance and progress of students in their lowest-performing schools. Funds are awarded to LEAs in sufficient amounts in order to implement, fully and effectively, one of seven federally approved intervention models.

These intervention models are:

1. Turnaround Model—involves replacing the principal and at least 50 percent of the school’s staff, adopting a new governance structure, increasing learning time, and implementing a standards-based instructional program.
   
   
2. Restart Model—the school is closed and reopened under a charter school operator, a charter management organization, or an education management organization that has been selected through a rigorous review process.
   
   
3. School closure Model—the LEA closes the school and enrolls the students who attended that school in other schools in the LEA that are higher achieving. These other schools should be within reasonable proximity to the closed school.
   
   
4. Transformation Model—the LEA replaces the principal and takes other steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness; institutes comprehensive instructional reforms; increases learning time; and provides operational flexibility and sustained support.
   
   
5.  Early Learning Model—this model is a combination of early learning strategies and some elements from the transformation model. LEAs must offer full-day kindergarten, establish or expand a high-quality preschool program, and provide educators, including preschool teachers, with joint planning time.
   
   
6. Evidence-based, Whole-school Reform Model—the LEA selects an approved model from the Approved Evidence-Based, Whole-School Reform Models list located on the ED Web site at https://oese.ed.gov/sig-approved-evidence-based-whole-school-reform-model/. Approved models must: have evidence of effectiveness that include at least one study that meets What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards; be designed as a Whole-school Reform Model, and; be implemented by the LEA in partnership with a Whole- school Reform Model developer as defined in the SIG final requirements.
   
   
7. California State-determined Intervention Model (CA SDIM)—a Whole-school Reform Model designed to improve student academic performance and progress. The following areas are addressed in the CA SDIM: (1) school leadership, (2) teaching and learning in at least one full academic content area (including professional learning for educators), (3) student non-academic support, and (4) family and community engagement. LEAs that elect to implement the CA SDIM must do so in partnership with one of the three following lead partners:
   
   
   1. Local County Office of Education;
      
      
   2. Regional System of District and School Support, Lead County Office of Education; or
      
      
   3. The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence.

An LEA’s capacity to implement the selected school intervention model(s), and other factors, such as the number of schools served, distribution of eligible schools, the selected intervention model, demonstration of evidence-based strategies, and the overall quality of LEA applications will be considered in awarding funding.

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact the School Improvement and Support Office by phone at 916-319-0833 or by e-mail at STO@cde.ca.gov. [Note, the preceding email address is no longer valid and has been replaced by SISO@cde.ca.gov.]

Sincerely,


Bob Storelli, Director
Improvement and Accountability Division

BS:jo