Turnaround-Program Data Seen as Promising, Though Preliminary

Initial data from the U.S. Department of Education on the $3.5 billion School Improvement Grant program show that the federal turnaround grants haven’t gone just to schools in urban areas, or for less-drastic school improvement efforts.

But advocates say that while the information—detailing turnaround strategies selected by different kinds of schools—is helpful, it is still too early to gauge the effectiveness of the program developed under the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 to help schools that were perennially failing to meet the goals of the law.

The Obama administration has given the School Improvement Grants a complete makeover, including a one-time, $3 billion infusion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal economic-stimulus package passed in 2009, and a specific menu of four turnaround options from...