INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The Indiana Department of Education says eight struggling schools across the state will receive more than $8 million in improvement grants to help turn around student performance. 

The grants are going to elementary and middle schools in Evansville, Gary, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, Kokomo, and Warsaw and range in size from $650,000 to $1.4 million.

Indiana schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz said in a statement that the grants are funded by the federal government and will be awarded over the next five years. 

Ritz says the schools were chosen because they have shown dedication to improving and have promised to follow one of six federally approved plans to do so.