The Centennial State has earned another round of federal aid, more than $5 million, to help turn around its lowest performing schools. the Department of Education announced Monday.
The award comes one month after education advocacy organization A+ Denver released a report that detailed how nearly $60 million in School Improvement Grant monies given to Colorado has produced poor results.
Fewer than half of all schools that received the federal grant money in the first three years of the program outperformed the state average growth percentile, or how the state measures academic progress by students and their academic peers.
Results have been mixed across the country.
Other states to be awarded SIG dollars in this round include Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Utah and Washington.
“Turning around our lowest-performing schools is hard work but it’s our responsibility,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement. “We owe it to our children, their families and the broader community. These School Improvement Grants are helping some of the lowest-achieving schools provide a better education for students who need it the most.”