Turnaround Schools

School Improvement Grants: Year Two Implementation
The federal Title I School Improvement Grant (SIG) provides funding and support to the state's identified Persistently Lowest Achieving schools in order to rapidly and dramatically increase student achievement. Minnesota SIG schools are implementing comprehensive intervention models designed to build capacity for sustainable improvement. Required intervention model elements include:

   •  Increasing time for learning
   •  Giving teachers time to collaborate
   •  Evaluating teachers and principals regularly
   •  Setting ambitious goals for student learning

After more than a year of school turnaround efforts in Minnesota, SIG schools have demonstrated a promising commitment to the process. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and school districts have a heightened sense of urgency to support capacity building and improve educational opportunities for the nearly 8,000 students enrolled in SIG schools. Schools are going deeper in implementing the intervention model components to the greatest extent possible in year two of SIG.

 

Research and Tools

  • Instruction-Focused Learning Team Implementation Tool 
    The purpose of this tool is to examine the implementation progress of current structures and practices of a school team to determine implementation stages, identify supports needed, and plan actionable next steps.
  • Minnesota Northern STAR Expectations and Guidelines 
    MDE Northern STAR Expectations and Guidelines describe the various responsibilities of the Northern STAR team members. The second page of this document outlines the stages of implementation.
  • Minnesota Northern STAR 
    Minnesota Northern STAR is a list of the Student and School Success Indicators. Those marked “KEY” indicators have special emphasis as they are acted upon and reported by schools first in their Northern STAR action plans.
  • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Instruction-Focused School Guide 
    This guide provides districts and schools with essential elements for leadership teams and PLC teams.
  • School Leader Selection Resources and Tools 
    These resources include a sampling of principal selection tools from a variety of sources to assist in selecting an effective school leader.
  • School Leader Selection STAR Process 
    This selection process is based on a candidate’s ability to describe situations, tasks, actions, and results based on their past school leadership experiences.
  • School Leader Selection Public Impact Resources 
    This turnaround leader selection process comes from Public Impact, a national education policy and consulting firm, and is based on consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, and speaking. Interview questions focus on a candidate’s description of past experiences.
  • Meta-Analysis of the Quality School Review Results 
    This report contains an analysis of the underlying trends identified during the course of the Quality School Reviews of the identified Persistently Lowest Achieving schools. It outlines the strengths, challenges and possible areas for improvement among these schools.

School Improvement Grant Program Administration



  • Copyright 2012
  • Minnesota Department of Education