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Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) were quite similar, CSRD
(renamed Comprehensive School Reform [CSR] in 2002) was incorporated into
California’s Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. As a result, II/USP Cohort 1
included 80 CSRD schools.
CSR schools were funded for up to three years, based on an application that met
federal requirements. When more applications were submitted than funds could
support, the highest scoring applications were selected. CSR schools were subject to
the same accountability provisions as were other II/USP schools except that, since CSR
provided three years of implementation funding, no additional funds were provided to
CSR schools that made some progress.
CSR Cohorts 1 and 2 were selected from II/USP participants and were subject to the
accountability provisions of that program. The results for those schools were included in
the descriptions for II/USP schools not participating in HPSGP. Accountability decisions
for CSR Cohort 3 schools were determined following their third implementation year and
the release of the 2005 API.
In May 2004, a fourth CSR cohort consisting of 84 schools was selected from among
123 applicant schools; a fifth CSR cohort of 56 schools was selected in January 2005
from among 73 applicants.
Federal funding for the CSR program ceased in 2006. In August 2006, schools in
Cohorts 4 and 5 that were in deciles 1 and 2 were given an opportunity to convert to
and receive funding from the High Priority Schools Grant Program (HPSGP); 92 CSR
schools were eligible to convert.
For more information on CSR, contact Lisa R. McClung, Program Consultant, School
Improvement Division, at (916) 324-2897 or by e-mail at lmcclung@cde.ca.gov. More
information is available on the CSR Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/lp/cs.
High Priority Schools Grant Program
The High Priority Schools Grant Program (HPSGP) succeeded II/USP and CSR as
California’s primary effort to assist low-performing schools in improving student
academic performance. Schools are invited for participation in this program based on
their recent API performance, with the lowest-performing schools receiving the highest
priority for invitation. In 2006, the state instituted a second cohort of the HPSGP to
assist a new group of low-performing schools. All schools in decile ranks 1 and 2 on the
2005 Base API that have not previously participated in II/USP or CSR, and were not in
the first cohort of the HPSGP, were invited to participate in HPSGP Cohort 2.
Key features of the HPSGP include assessing current student and site needs using
state-developed assessment instruments, developing a school action plan based on the
state’s nine Essential Program Components supporting student achievement, and
creating an environment conducive to teaching and learning. Program requirements
include the use of an external entity with successful expertise specific to the challenges
inherent in low-performing schools to work with the school site council, parents, and the
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