10 a.m. Monday March 8, 2010 California will release its first list of "persistently lowest-achieving
schools," including six in the Mt. Diablo district: one (1) high school, one (1) middle school and four
(4) elementary schools. The list will be at www.cde.ca.gov - full link when we get it.
The full list includes almost 200 schools - roughly the lowest five (5) percent in the state. To be on the
list schools must be eligible for Title 1 funds and must have failed to show adequate progress in
student achievement. Note that a failing school can escape being on the dreaded list if it arranges to
report insufficient scores or if it is ineligible for Title 1.
Schools on the list will have six choices:
1. claim they should not be on the list
2. decline to take the money and thereby escape the September deadline
3. close the school
4. replace the principal and increase instructional time
5. replace the principal and at least half the staff
6. restart the school by closing it and reopening it as a charter school, under a charter school
management organization or under an education management organization.
The last four choices are part of the state's own implementation of Race to the Top as well as the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and School Improvement grant program for struggling
schools.
Formerly useful links (now broken): School Improvement Grants
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act