Race to the Top Round Two Winners Announced

maureen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:17:29 -0500

Race to the Top Round Two: 10 states win federal funding
Washington's Reform Challenge

Race to the Top Round Two: 10 states win federal funding

On August 24, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education announced the round two winners of the $4.35 billion federal grant competition, Race to the Top. The ten winning round two applicants (District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island) now join the round one winners, Delaware and Tennessee, as groundbreaking leaders in education reform - reforms that will include:

Adopting commons standards and assessments;
Building robust data systems that measure student growth and success;
Implementing comprehensive human capital provisions; and
Turning around the lowest-performing schools.

For a summary of highlights and observations from Race to the Top Round Two Winners, please view our analysis.

For official rankings from Race to the Top Round Two, please view the U.S. Department of Education's website.

Washington's Reform Challenge

If Washington isn't Racing to the Top, Where are we Going?

With a total of 290.6 points out of a possible 500, Washington state ranked 32nd out of 36 applicants in round two of Race to the Top.

Scoring better than only Alabama, Maine, Mississippi and Montana, Washington’s application struggled to present a strong education reform platform, strategic plan and willingness to make the legislative changes necessary to support critical reforms. While Washington fared well in its application in the categories of data systems, turning around the lowest performing schools and emphasizing improvement in STEM subjects, without provisions that maintain high standards and assessments, authorize high-quality charter schools and allow student achievement data to be tied to an educator’s evaluation, Washington will continue to play catch-up in the race to accelerate student performance.

There is much to be learned from the twelve winning Race to the Top states, and reviewers' comments and feedback on Washington’s application indicate that much work remains to be done in order to improve our education system. As Washington state moves forward with finalizing its Education Reform Plan, it is imperative that state leaders thoughtfully incorporate the feedback from Washington’s Race to the Top application.

For a summary of the feedback Washington's Race to the Top application received from the U.S. Department of Education, please view our analysis.

Race to the Top Round Two: Washington Falls Short

maureen — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:22:00 -0500

Race to the Top Round Two: 19 Finalists Make the Cut
Washington's Application Falls Short

Race to the Top Round Two: 19 Finalists Make the Cut

"With a budget of just $5 billion dollars -- less than one percent of total education spending in America -- this minor provision in the Recovery Act has unleashed an avalanche of pent-up education reform activity at the state and local level."

--Sec. Arne Duncan

Today, the Obama administration named 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the Race to the Top grant competition. Washington was not among them.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied for part of the $3.4 billion available under the federal grant. The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Applications were evaluated against a 500 point rubric and a nationwide network of 58 peer reviewers that included teachers, principals, superintendents, college professors, scholars, business leaders and education advocates advised education Secretary Arne Duncan in his decision. All round two finalists scored over 400 points, including finalists from round that did not win.

The road ahead for the 19 finalists includes a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with Secretary Duncan and senior staff from the Department of Education to verify and clarify the states’ reform plan to ensure that implementation is possible. The winners are scheduled to be announced in September and, following the announcement, the department will publish the scores and comments for each applicant. According to the Department of Education, up to 12 states will likely win grant funding.

View PFL’s spotlight on bold round two finalists.

For information, read Sec. Duncan’s Race to the Top announcement speech.

Washington's Application Falls Short

Though Washington leaders will not know how the state scored on Race to the Top until September, the message is clear: Our state has a long way to go to ensure the success of every student and our state’s “business as usual” approach simply doesn’t meet the high bar for reform set by the federal government.

Despite this setback, Washington cannot stand still. Instead, the state must redouble its efforts to put in place policies and programs that will raise student achievement and close Washington’s growing achievement gap. Now is not the time to shelve the good work that went into our state’s Race to the Top application. Washington leaders must press onward and use the significant district and union support they were able to gather for the application to drive real reforms that produce real results for our students.

As part of Washington’s Race to the Top application, state leaders submitted the beginning of an Education Reform Plan for Washington state. This plan represents a step forward for Washington, but a plan is only as successful as its implementation. State agencies must reorganize themselves to finalize, implement and deliver on this plan as soon as possible. This move would demonstrate that Washington is serious about achieving better outcomes for students, regardless of receiving federal grant dollars.

And, with the Obama Administration signaling that there will likely be a third round of Race to the Top funding, making progress on education reform policies, programs and Washington’s Education Reform Plan is important. Specific reforms that Washington leaders can act on in the coming months to increase student achievement and our state’s competitiveness for future grants include:

Implementing college and work ready graduation requirements;
Implementing a strong accountability system to turn around low-performing schools;
Strengthening state and district teacher effectiveness policies so that they recognize and reward outstanding teachers;
Reorganizing state education agencies to implement and deliver on the state’s education reform plan; amd
Developing a framework to allow for more innovative schools to open in Washington.

Implementing these reforms will put Washington on the path federal education policy is headed. The Department of Education has said that Race to the Top will be the new frame for the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This means that Washington, and its one million students, cannot afford to be out of step with this national movement toward reform.

For a brief summary of Washington’s Race to the Top application, please view our analysis.

To view Washington’s reaction to the Race to the Top finalist announcement, visit Gov. Gregoire’s website.

The Impact of Effective Teachers and Principals

maureen — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:31:38 -0500

The Impact of Effective Teachers and Principals
State Board to Rule on New Graduation Requirements
Federal Education Jobs Bill Under Fire

Introducing Partnership for Learning’s New Policy Brief: The Impact of Effective Teachers and Principals

Partnership for Learning is pleased to announce the first in a series of reports on how Washington state can build an education system that prepares all students to succeed in college and world of work. Stay tuned throughout the summer as we release a new report every few weeks.

This week: The Impact of Effective Teachers and Principals

What matters most when it comes to increasing student achievement? Small class sizes? Whether a child lives in poverty? A fair and equitable state school finance formula?

While the above, and much more, play a role in raising student achievement, teacher and principal effectiveness has a greater impact on student learning than any other factor in a school system.

To learn more, read the report.

State Board to Rule on New Graduation Requirements

Next week, the State Board of Education will rule on the future of CORE 24 and the content of Washington’s new graduation requirements. Partnership for Learning, along with the Excellent Schools Now Coalition, has sent a letter to the State Board urging them to adopt college and work ready graduation requirements for all students. The letter states:

“As things currently stand, too many of our high school graduates are not prepared for community college or apprenticeships — and many do not even meet the minimum admission standards for our public baccalaureate institutions.”

“This is not the time to retreat on the strong graduation requirements that the 2009 Legislature put in motion. We have an obligation to ensure that we set all of our students up for success in college and careers. It’s not just about doing the right thing for our students and their families. Smart reforms to our education system will drive critically needed economic growth and prosperity.”
View the full letter.

The State Board will be taking public comment on the graduation requirements on Tuesday, July 13 at 4:30pm and Wednesday, July 14 at 11:45am at Anacortes ESD 189. Individuals who are unable to attend, but would like to express their written support of CORE 24 can email sbe@k12.wa.us.

Federal Education Jobs Bill Under Fire

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Education Jobs Bill—legislation that will provide $10 billion in aid to local schools districts to avert massive teacher layoffs and $5 billion to help the current shortfall in Pell Grants for college students. While the bill protects teachers’ jobs and scholarships, it has drawn significant opposition from the Obama Administration and Department of Education due to an amendment submitted by Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, which would trim $800 million from the following education reform programs:

Teacher Incentive Fund: cuts $200 million from total budget of $600 million
Designed to make grants to states or districts that agree to reform teacher compensation systems to reward student achievement.

Race to the Top: cuts $500 million from total budget of $4.35 billion
Competitive grant program that awards funding to states willing to make reforms surrounding four assurances: standards and assessments, teachers and leaders, turnaround schools, and data systems.

Charter Schools: cuts $100 million from total budget of $256 million
Provides grants to assist with start-up costs of establishing new charter schools.

With the bill now moving to the Senate, which is on recess until the week of July 12, the Obama Administration is urging Congress to consider alternative funding means that will protect both teachers jobs and the reform work being conducted by the Department of Education. Without an alternative funding proposal, the Obama administration has signaled that it will veto the entire education jobs bill stating, “The Administration urges the House to include education jobs funding in a version of H.R. 4899 that does not rescind education reform funding. If the final bill presented to the President includes cuts to education reforms, the President's senior advisors would recommend a veto.”