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Baseline Analyses of SIG Applications and SIG-Eligible and SIG-Awarded Schools
NCEE 2011-4019
May 2011

4. Analyses of SIG-Eligible and SIG-Awarded Schools

This section addresses the report's second key question, which includes the following related questions:

  • How many SIG-eligible and SIG-awarded schools are in each state? How are they distributed by Tier and by model?
  • What are the characteristics of SIG-eligible and SIG-awarded schools? How do they compare to schools nationwide?
  • What is the level of SIG funding to awarded schools, overall and per pupil?

Section 4.1 describes how the data were collected, and Sections 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 explore the questions above with these data.

Key Findings

  • 15,277 schools, or 16 percent of all schools nationwide, were eligible for SIG.
  • Given the program's intent, SIG-awarded schools were, as expected, more likely to be high-poverty, high-minority, urban schools in comparison to elementary and secondary schools nationwide. They were also more likely to be high schools.
  • Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of SIG-awarded Tier I and Tier II schools are implementing the transformation model.
  • School-level SIG award amounts varied by Tier and by state. The average total award among Tier I and Tier II schools was $2.54 million, compared to $520,000 among Tier III schools. Additionally, the average three-year award for Tier I and Tier II schools in Illinois was $4.63 million compared to $620,000 in Vermont.
  • The percentage increase in per-pupil funding associated with SIG varied across states. For example, Tier I and Tier II schools receiving SIG awards in Montana increased their per-pupil funding by 58 percent, while the increase was 3 percent in Vermont.