Race to the Top Round One Winners Announced

Race to the Top Round One Winners Announced
How Can Washington Race to the Top?

Race to the Top Round One Winners Announced

The Federal Government Sets a High Bar for Education Reform

Two of the 16 finalists announced last month by U.S. Department of Education were declared winners of the first Round of federal Race to the Top funding today. The winners are Tennessee and Delaware.

Delaware will receive approximately $100 million and Tennessee $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years. This means that $3.4 billion will remain for winners of the second round of Race to the Top, when Washington plans to apply, in June.

"We received many strong proposals from states all across America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in announcing the winners. "Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students."

Delaware scored 454 out of the 500 points possible for Race to the Top, while Tennessee scored 444. Both winners embraced the strong education reforms emphasized by the Obama administration—including performance pay for teachers and welcoming charter school policies—with broad support from unions and reformers. All districts in both states signed onto the Race to the Top proposals, while 100 percent of district unions in Delaware and 93 percent of unions in Tennessee signed on.

In Tennessee, lawmakers passed a new law in January that requires half of teacher evaluations to be based on student achievement data, as part of an effort to better their chances.

The state also lifted its cap on the number of charter schools that can open each year and set up a statewide school district specifically for failing schools. These changes were made with input from the Tennessee Education Association, the teachers' union.

In 2009, the Delaware legislature passed legislation that allows for student growth data to be a significant factor in the common, statewide teacher and leader evaluation system.

The state also made huge strides in the development of a robust, longitudinal data system that links students, teachers and schools, and allows for a complete picture of performance across the education system. This data system will be used as a means to equitably distribute teachers and principals to schools and students that are in need of high-impact, effective leaders.

By selecting Tennessee and Delaware as winners, the federal government’s message is clear: Nothing less than a commitment to transformative change is necessary, if we are ever able to ensure every student graduates prepared for college and the world of work.

While many of 38 other states that applied in round one gather feedback on their applications and hone their strategy for round two, Washington is working to build off of the state’s Race to the Top legislation—which was signed into law today by Governor Gregoire—and develop a proposal that presents a coherent plan and cohesive strategy for improving student performance.

In the next month, state education agency leaders will be reaching out to districts to secure their participation in Washington’s Race to the Top application. The applications of both Tennessee and Delaware show that states can advance bold reforms and secure broad statewide support. Washington must strive for both if we are to be competitive for round two of Race to the Top.

For Partnership for Learning’s take on the district and state level components of a bold Race to the Top application for Washington, please read the memo below.

For Tennessee and Delaware’s full Race to the Top applications and round one scores, comments and feedback, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

How Can Washington Race to the Top?

Recommendations for a Bold Application

As winners of the first round of the federal Race to the Top grant program, Tennessee and Delaware set a high bar for education reform and clearly indicate that the federal government is determined to only fund states that are willing to drive bold policies. Washington’s Race to the Top Legislation (SB 6696) takes steps in the right direction, but stronger reforms are needed to make Washington truly competitive for Race to the Top. The task now rests with state agencies and districts to push the envelope, commit to innovative reforms, and assemble a Race to the Top application worthy of Washington students.

As Washington prepares its Race to the Top application for Round II, it is critical that the proposal represent a bold plan and coherent strategy for closing the state’s growing achievement gap and ensuring that every student is prepared to succeed in college and the world of work.

Partnership for Learning has developed a memo with suggestions to help Washington take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate student performance and outcomes in our state.

Read the memo

Comments

Posted: Tue, 03/30/2010 - 12:32pm — Anonymous (not verified)

See a few problems

Hello, I am an educator in a school district that is implementing all of the latest in educational strategies to improve learning. I am in a school that has PLC's, late starts each week, and many important guest speakers and trainings. We have other districts sending teachers to view our classrooms all the time. The problem is that we are in an area where education is not a high priority within the community. This is a very blue collar town. So tell me how teacher evaluation based on student performance is fair? We can't fix their crappy home lives. Research has shown (so I was told and believe) that the single greatest indicator for student achievement rests solely on the plates of the parents. If there is no parental support, there is not going to be desired results as a whole for meeting standards on tests. So back on the teachers. It's always their fault. So because my students decide that they could care less about school because their focus is on where they are going to sleep or what they are going to eat for dinner and blow off trying on their standards tests, I get punished. That's a crime and should not be overlooked. This is going on right now across the state because apathy towards school in general is the cool thing. We can't start getting rid of 50% of teachers from one school or else the kids will never have a fair shot at improving. We need to instead focus on providing training and support to current teachers, as well as educating parents. I am in my fifth year now of teaching and have a far greater understanding of what is expected of me in the classroom. My first year I was a mess, just treading water and getting by with canned assignments out of the textbooks. Admittedly, I felt bad for the students because I was just learning how to teach and they were my guinea pigs. This may sound bad but it is the truth, new teachers don't come out of college with an expert ability to teach to standards and this will perpetuate student apathy and failure if they get new teachers every year. I heard someone ask me a funny question about where the schools plan on getting these so-called top teachers if they fire everybody. He said they must come from the "great teacher farm" somewhere. Teachers are taking the blame for everything nowadays and it is time for more of the blame and responsibility be put back on the parents. Lets start fining or firing parents when they don't show any support for their children when it comes to school. How about fining parents who get divorced? Teachers are changing what they do and putting in a great deal of effort and time to improve student learning in my district but students are still not improving. I know we have great teachers using the latest teaching strategies but their students are still not passing. So we are going to blame everything on the teachers however. I love teaching but it is going to make life a living hell wondering if your students will perform well enough to save your job for the next year. I have a mortgage, wife and two kids, a second job, and a ton of bills and student loans. I work my hind end off trying to improve student learning. So now I am going to lose everything I have worked so hard for because my students decided they didn't want to try on the state tests because they think they're stupid. Maybe if we paid the students they would try harder. Most of the points you have made are great and I think have a lot of merit. I want you to really think long and hard about what is best practice when it comes to the students. Is a revolving door the answer and the message we want to send to students, parents, and community members? Our students deserve teachers that are experienced not a new one every year. Instead of firing, how about more training? That seems to be the more intelligent decision. I guarantee that if you were to take a survey of teacher opinion about this proposed addition to the the teacher evaluation process every single one would balk and think that it was not fair or realistic. I think that maybe you all making these proposals should first make informed decisions based on teacher feedback. The problem with politicians is that they have no idea what is actually going on in our classrooms. Maybe you have spent time in a classroom and that makes this piece of your proposal even that much more of a mystery. In closing of my venting, I like most of the proposal by your organization. You need to do much more research before recommending that student performance is the backbone of teacher evaluations to realize that it is not realistic and will ultimately do more harm than good. People will be driven off from considering the profession if they feel like they have no fair shot at keeping their job for any extended amount of time. Thanks for reading and considering my opinion.