ST. LOUIS • A top official from the U.S. Department of Education sat inside the library at Columbia Elementary School on Wednesday taking notes on how the school had transformed from a place parents wanted to abandon to one where students last year made double-digit gains on state exams.

In 2009, the school, surrounded by near-desolate streets in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood, had some of the worst test scores in the city. Classrooms were often chaotic. Students say they felt teachers didn't care about them.

But in 2010, Columbia became part of a multibillion-dollar federal experiment to see whether it's possible to turn around the nation's worst schools in three years. That fall, the school and 31 others in Missouri received a collective $17.3 million in school improvement grants. The money carries the belief that students can improve more in one year than some consider realistic — if only the schools adopt the right practices and refuse to accept failure.

At Columbia, a new principal — Crystal Ford-Gale — took over. She replaced 95 percent of Columbia's staff and essentially restarted the troubled school from scratch. That kind of staff turnover is common among schools accepting the federal grants.

And after one year, the school's sharp rise on the Missouri Assessment Program helped it become one of 16 in the city to make adequate yearly progress, a standard set by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Jason Snyder, a deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, listened Wednesday as parents, students and community leaders said the building in the last 18 months had become a different school.

"We really can prove what's possible in these schools," Snyder said to them. "It's encouraging from a federal level to see this kind of work."

Snyder, who leads the Education Department's Office of School Turnaround, is working to determine what actions have led to transformation in schools like Columbia, and what efforts have failed. He's developing a list of promising practices to share with other schools and districts nationwide.

St. Louis Public Schools has 11 schools receiving school improvement money — more than any district in the state. Schools in Hazelwood, Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts also are recipients of the funds.

Snyder spent the day in St. Louis, also visiting Vashon High School and L'Ouverture Middle School — schools that were rife with discipline problems and low achievement two years ago.

In 2011, Vashon's math scores jumped to 23 percent passing, from 8 percent the year prior. In reading, they rose to 44 percent, from 29 percent. The number of suspensions last year was 162, down from 1,874 in 2010.

"The school has started to push us more," said Sarah Billingsley-Walker, a senior. "They know we can do it."

L'Ouverture did not show sharp academic gains last year. While students performed slightly better in reading — about 11 percent passed the state exam — the passing rate in math fell to 9 percent from 11 percent. But according to internal tests administered by the school district, students at the school on average advanced 1.3 grade levels last year. But for students to test at grade level on state exams, they may need an even faster rate of improvement.

So far, results of the school improvement grants across the state and the country are mixed. Some schools have shown near-instant transformation. In others, improvements in academics have yet to take shape.

In Missouri, the program has changed the relationship between the state education department and school districts. State regulators make monthly site visits to the schools, pushing and coaching principals to improve all aspects of their schools, and seeking to provide whatever support is needed.

In the St. Louis Public Schools, the 11 schools and other low performers are being treated as a sub-school district. In 2010, Superintendent Kelvin Adams created the four-member Office of Innovation, overseen by Associate Superintendent Michael Haggen, to provide an extra layer of accountability and support to the schools with the goal of boosting academic achievement. The team spends most its time in those buildings, monitoring and advising teachers and principals.

This year, 31 schools in Missouri received $15.7 million in school improvement grants. After 2012-13, the grants run out. Snyder said the changes made in each school should allow the improvements to continue and not disintegrate.

Haggen said the schools need more time, and money, to make the gains sustainable. The money has brought more staff, teacher training, longer school days and data analysis to customize classroom instruction. But whether dramatic progress will continue — or stop — once the funding disappears is a question that worries some school officials.

"We do know it's going to take more than three years of support," Haggen told Snyder during lunch at L'Ouverture. "It just is."