LOS ANGELES — The UCLA School Management Program (SMP), a center of The Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, has succeeded in partnering to secure $8.4 million in federal grants for 11 schools this year.

The UCLA SMP partners were recently awarded the money in the form of competitive federal grants administered through the California Department of Education. The grants are part of the Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program, which is operated by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by states.

The U.S. Department of Education intends that the grants improve student achievement by supporting the implementation of school reforms that are supported by scientifically based research and effective practices. The CSR program is especially focused on helping low-performing, high poverty schools meet the standards of content and academic achievement set by the state.

SMP, which has worked with public school teachers and school administrators since 1992 in an effort to improve the quality of public education, facilitated the successful writing of the grant applications. UCLA SMP will receive at least $2 million in the form of contracts from the schools and their districts over a three-year period.

The schools and their districts are: Humphreys Elementary of Los Angeles Unified School District; Miramonte Elementary and Kranz Middle of the Mountain View School District; Holland Middle of Baldwin Park Unified School District; and Adams Elementary, Diamond Elementary, Fremont Elementary, Jackson Elementary, Martin Elementary, Walker Elementary, and Saddleback High of Santa Ana Unified School District.