There’s excitement in Utah as 14 schools receive over $23M in School Improvement Grants. Schools look to use their new funding for support staff, teacher coaches, and instructors. Utah’s KSL news radio took the words right out of our mouths when they quoted Jason Snyder, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, as saying, ‘”This is about giving targeted resources to do things in a dramatically different way than we’ve done before, and that required putting in place the conditions [emphasis added] for success.”’
Two key phrases there: “dramatically different,” and “conditions.”
Looking back at Glendale Middle School’s progress since receiving a similar grant in 2010, teachers, students, and administrators reflected that adjusting to changes in conditions and culture—such as a new principal, extending the school day, and adding additional classes for struggling students—wasn’t necessarily easy, but that the results are clear and make the adjustments worth the effort.
U.S. Department of Education press release here.