Elementary and secondary education in Tennessee is governed by Federal law, Tennessee statutes, State Board of Education Rules and policies of local.

Elementary and secondary education in Tennessee is governed by Federal law, Tennessee statutes, State Board of Education Rules and policies of local education agencies (LEAs).  Most state statutes governing education are contained in Title 49. 

The State Board of Education is the governing and policy making body for the Tennessee system of public elementary and secondary education.  The Board also coordinates its efforts with the State Department of Education, which implements law and policies established by the General Assembly and the Board.

Although the State Department of Education has some regulatory authority over local education agencies with regard to certain issues, most issues related to elementary and secondary education are under the authority of local school systems.  Pursuant to TCA Section 49-2-203, a local board of education has the authority to "manage and control all public schools established or that may be established under its jurisdiction." 

The LEA must assure that it will--2) Modify its practices and policies as

necessary to enable its schools to implement the interventions fully and effectively

[Assurance that receives the signatures of Director of Schools and Board Chair on L-2]

The LEA must describe actions it has taken, or will take, to

d) Modify its practices or policies, if necessary, to enable its schools to implement the interventions fully and effectively.

The LEA will provide: Name of School Improvement Grant

Coordinator or other person who will address policy and procedural barriers throughout the implementation of the grant. (This responsibility will be included in the roles of the SIG Coordinator p. L-14.);

Date of review and status of LEA board policy;

Date of review and status of LEA practices or procedures;

Date of review and status of handbooks of schools receiving SIG funds;

The LEA shall describe topic(s) requiring modification and current progress of these modifications.

[Appendix B Scoring Rubric-page 4 Question 13]

Operational flexibility to implement the grant, i.e., time in school day, calendar, hiring practices, financial (procurement/delivery of goods), etc.

Recruitment, selection, and retention of high quality staff

Access to work with data and its use Acceptance (“Buy in”) of staff and

community

at all levels to eliminate/minimize

barriers

This section must be submitted electronically for each individual school that will be served by school improvement funds.

The electronic file with the school level descriptive information must contain the LEA name and the school name.

Caution: Please take care to complete the correct items for the status of that specific school.

Name of School: _____________ Principal Name for SY10-11:___________

(mark TBD if unknown at this time)

 Tier: I II III (Please check appropriate tier)

Needs of School: All and disaggregated Student Achievement Data (Insert most recent TSIP data, not AYP data, for math, reading/language arts, graduation or attendance rate by all students and subgroups)(copy and paste data into the box):     

School Achievement and Goals for other Indicators: Attach an an electronic copy of your TSIP Action Plan (Component 4) to your application.

Appendix C—Template for Component 4  Professional Development: Each school must

include a minimum of 30% of the grant funds for ongoing professional development including job-embedded training designed to build capacity and support staff.  This includes literacy training for the staff unless the school demonstrates proficiency in this area. Provide your school’s PD plan including topics and projected dates.      

Tier I and Tier II school only—1) Intervention Model (of the 4 allowable)

2) Responses to Questions in Appendix F regarding Intervention Model Selection (number of questions to be answered vary with intervention model. All questions for intervention model chosen must be answered in boxes provided.3) Rationale for selection of intervention model

Questions for selection of an Intervention for Tier I and Tier II schools only.

Please refer to VII. School Level Descriptive Information EXCERT from Handbook on Effective Implementation of School Improvement

Grants, Center on Innovation & Improvement The Turnaround Model

The LEA replaces the principal (although the LEA may retain a recently hired principal where a turnaround, restart, or transformation was instituted in past two years) and rehiring no more than 50% of the staff; gives greater principal autonomy; implements other prescribed and recommended strategies.

 1. How will the LEA select a new leader for the school, and what experience, training, and skills will the new leader be expected to possess?

2. How will the LEA assign effective teachers and leaders to the lowest achieving schools?3. How will the LEA begin to develop a pipeline of effective teachers and leaders to work in turnaround schools?

Renewal Schools only— (Schools in Corrective Action or Restructuring I that are not in Tier I)

1) Intervention (Must adopt a Whole School Reform Model-- a proven model for capacity building and transformational change in the school

SDE will provide the following to assist with selection of a model:a) a list of state-approved vendors on the state website and b) training to assist in a data driven selection process and to provide examples of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to use in contracting with the vendor.

2) Rationale for choosing intervention from the vendor list

Tier III Focus Schools only—(Title I schools in School Improvement I or II)

Intervention activities the school will implement

Exemplary Educators and STATS will be provided to identify needs and implement change to impact student achievement positively.

Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III Schools—Description of implementation plan with quarterly milestone goals for each yearand 3 year timeline

[Appendix B Scoring Rubric-page 5 and 6 School Section Questions 1-10]

EVENT Applications due to the SDE Grants reviewed and evaluated Grant award notification letters sent

to LEAs Grant awards posted to state website

Implementation Year I Milestone Visits Evaluation of Year 1 for Year 2

funding by SDE

LEA submission of updated budget/grant for Year 2/3

New 2011-12 Tier 1, 2, 3 schools identified and beginning of new grant cycle (while continuing with prior grant cycle). A school may only be in one grant cycle.

DATE June 2, 2010 June 7-18, 2010 June 21-July 1, 2010

July 1, 2010

School Year 2010-11 Sept 2010, Jan 2011

Mar 2011, May 2011 May-June 2011(dependent on student

achievement data and SIG indicators)

July 2011

Aug 2011, May 2012

LEA Application - Documents to be Submitted• LEA Application: For

Review and Submission• Appendix J - External

Providers Form

• Appendix K - Budget Spreadsheet [being adjusted so that one submitted per LEA]

• School Level Application for each school [Template in application and is being added to website]

LEA Application - Documents to be Used in the Completion of the Application› Appendix A - Tier I, II, and III Schools

(Determined in 2009-2010)› Appendix B - Title I School

Improvement Grant Rubric 2010-2011

› Appendix C - Tennessee School Improvement Planning Process, Component 4

› Appendix D - What Is A Good School?

› Appendix E - School Improvement Grant Final Requirements

› Appendix F - Tennessee Pyramid of Interventions and Model Questions

› Appendix G - Framework for TCSPP Component 5

› Appendix H - TCSPP 2008 Rating Sheet

› Appendix I - TSIP Planning Rubric

June 2 deadline Electronic application (LEA application,

Appendix J, Appendix K, School portion for each school that the LEA plans to serve with SI funds) emailed to [email protected]

Only paper submitted—pages L-1 and L-2-- Assurances with original signatures—mailed to this address: Jacqueline Moore, TN State Department of Education, Office of Federal Programs, 5th Floor—Andrew Johnson Tower, 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243-0379

(Be sure to keep a copy of the signed application.)