The majority of low-performing schools that received financial assistance from the federal government two years ago made gains in their students' reading and math scores, according to new data released by the Department of Education Thursday. But about one-third of the schools actually declined in their scores, or showed no improvement.
In 2010, the department began administering School Improvement Grant funds to states and school districts to help them turn around low-performing schools. Since then, the federal government has funneled roughly $5 billion into 1,500 failing schools that have used the funds to implement improvement programs. The analysis released Thursday compare 2011-12 school year assessment data to the schools' rates in the year prior to receiving grants.