State Implementation And Perceptions Of Title I School Improvement Grants Under The Recovery Act One Year Later Online Appendix

To learn more about states' experiences with implementing school improvement grants (SIGs) funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Center on Education Policy (CEP) administered a survey to state Title I directors. (Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides federal funds to schools in low-income areas to educate academically struggling students.) These ARRA SIG funds are targeted on the "persistently lowest-achieving schools" within each state; these schools must implement one of four school improvement models outlined in U.S. Department of Education guidance. The survey, which was conducted from November 2011 through early January 2012, focused on state processes for renewing the ARRA SIG grants made for school year 2010-11, state assistance to school districts and schools to implement the ARRA SIG reforms, and general perceptions of the ARRA SIG program. A total of 46 states responded, including the District of Columbia. The major findings from this survey are described in the 2012 CEP report, "State Implementation and Perceptions of Title I School Improvement Grants under the Recovery Act: One Year Later." A last question in the survey asked respondents to share any additional thoughts about their state's experiences with the ARRA SIG program. This appendix shares excerpts from direct quotations from all the responses of state Title I directors to this open-ended question. Responses have been grouped into three categories: positive remarks, frustrations with ARRA SIG, and suggestions for improvement. [For the main report, "State Implementation and Perceptions of Title I School Improvement Grants under the Recovery Act: One Year Later," see ED532794.].