2010-11 School Improvement Grants

In April, the Department named 10 schools to the School Improvement Grants eligibility list. Of those, five districts submitted applications for funding.

Applications Funded

District	School	Intervention Model	Tier	Amount Requested
RSU 24	Ellsworth High School	Transformation	Tier I	$1,489,328
RSU 24	Mountain View School	N/A	Tier III	$337,131
Portland	East End Community School	Turnaround	Tier I	$2,748,663
RSU 27	Fort Kent Community High School	Transformation	Tier I	$846,140

Final approval for the four schools is contingent on confirmation that the schools meet federal requirements for Highly Qualified Teacher status

Applications Not Funded

District	School	Intervention Model	Tier	Response
RSU 19	Nokomis Regional High School	Transformation	Tier II	Decision Letter will be posted soon
RSU 59	Madison Area Memorial High School	Transformation	Tier II	Decision letter will be posted soon

 

The following message was sent, by email, to all Superintendents and NCLB Coordinators on September 15, 2011.

This communication serves as notice that the Maine Department of Education intends to submit an application for a waiver to the U. S. Department of Education for Title I School Improvement Grants (SIG) program authorized by section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).  This application is being made on behalf of all SAUs receiving Title I School Improvement Grant (SIG) in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and requests a waiver of the requirement in Section I.A.2(d)(1)(i)(B) of the final requirements for the SIG program, which requires SAUs to develop and implement teacher and principal evaluation systems that meet certain requirements during the first year a school is implementing the transformation model.  Those systems must be rigorous, transparent, and equitable and take into account data on student academic growth as a significant factor as well as other factors, such as multiple observation-based assessments of performance, ongoing collections of information on professional practice reflective of student achievement, and increased high school graduation rates.  This waiver would permit the Maine Department of Education, in accordance with criteria Maine develops, to permit an SAU that is implementing the transformation model in one or more schools to take additional time to develop and implement high-quality evaluation systems that meet these requirements.

Comments related to this application and request for waivers should be sent to Rachelle Tome, ESEA Federal Programs Director at rachelle.tome@maine.gov.  Comments will be accepted through Friday, September 23, 2011.

• Three districts to receive over $5 million in federal School Improvement Grants funds
  July 13, 2011 press release
• 2010-11 School Improvement Grants eligibility list
  The 10 schools named to the eligibility list
  • Maine DOE announces 2010-11 School Improvement Grants eligibility list
    April 5, 2011 press release
• 2010-11 School Achievement and Progress List
  Used to determine the School Improvement Grant eligibility list
• Letter to schools
• Methodology & the School Achievement and Progress List
  To develop the list of 10 schools, the Department first creates a School Achievement and Progress list based on the last three years of testing data and the amount of progress made. Read about the methodology and view the School Achievement and Progress list for all applicable schools in the state.
• Previous years

If you have any questions regarding the Title I School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, please contact Rachelle Tome at 624-6705 or rachelle.tome@maine.gov.