USED Guidance Reflects The Turnaround Challenge Framework

Secretary Duncan’s staff recently announced draft guidance for the $3.5 billion allocated for School Improvement Grants (1003(g)). A great deal of the guidance  closely aligns with the framework presented in The Turnaround Challenge, as well as many of the resources currently available on our website.

See Education Counsel’s summary for an overview of the guidance. Public comments are due to USED at the end of the month.

Some of the comments we’ve heard to date state that the guidance is too rigid and prescriptive, but we think USED is taking the right steps to ensure that the status quo is changed.

As currently drafted, states and districts will need to prioritize their schools, governance structures and operations will need to be adjusted, and all schools that receive funds will be held accountable for making progress (above and beyond AYP measurements). All changes, that are absolutely necessary to make the type of improvements that are so urgently needed to turnaround these chronically low-performing schools.