- Washington Leaders Submit State's Race to the Top Application
- State Gears Up to Strengthen Teacher and Principal Evaluation
Washington Leaders Submit State's Race to the Top Application
Now the Hard Work Begins
On June 1, Governor Chris Gregoire, Superintendent Randy Dorn and State Board of Education Member Mary Jean Ryan announced the submission of the state’s Race to the Top application. Washington now joins 34 other states and the District of Columbia to compete for a share of the $3.4 billion remaining Race to the Top funds, which will be awarded to anywhere between 10 to 15 states in September.
Washington’s application requests $250 million in federal funding—the maximum amount the state is able to receive. The application contains seven areas that state leaders believe will make Washington stand out to reviewers:
1. Washington’s Education Reform Plan:
The state has established a reform plan that sets out a framework and strategy, in order to prepare all Washington students to succeed in the 21st century of work, learning and global citizenship. The education reform plan outlines four key goals, each with its own indicators and performance targets. The four goals are:
- Students Enter Kindergarten Prepared for Success
- Students Compete in Mathematics and Science Nationally and Internationally
- Students Attain High Academic Standards Regardless of Race, Ethnicity, Income or Gender
- Students Graduate Able to Succeed in College, Training, and Careers
2. Optional Competitive Innovation Clusters:
The four innovation clusters within the state’s application are designed to promote and support district initiatives to spur improvement in student achievement. Districts were encouraged, but not required, to participate in at least one of four clusters. Fifty percent of districts indicated interest in the innovation clusters, with 38 districts applying to participate in all four clusters:
- Improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): 106 districts
- Developing Great Teachers and Leaders: 100 districts
- Jumpstarting Improvement in Struggling Schools: 79 districts
- Improving College and Career Readiness and Reducing the Achievement Gap: 47 districts
3. Strengthened Memorandum of Understanding:
In order to participate in the state's application, districts submitted Memorandums of Understanding signed by the district's superintendent, school board chair and teachers' union representative. As a means to strengthen the application and signify broad support, Washington chose to include an additional signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding – the local district principal representative. This was done in the spirit of acknowledging great teachers and leaders.
4. Professional Development Cooperative:
The application highlights the Washington State Professional Development Cooperative -- a center designed to provide research-based services and supports to teachers.
5. Link to Investing in Innovation Grants (i3):
Washington’s application seeks to build on the 52 i3 grants applications Washington districts and nonprofit partners submitted to the federal government.
6. Broad Participation:
Washington’s application demonstrates broad support from districts and union representatives:
- 90% of districts (265 of 295 districts signed on to participate), representing 97% of students and 98% of students in poverty.
- Extensive stakeholder support from multiple sectors, organizations and leaders.
7. Competitive Priorities:
Washington state addressed both of the optional Race to the Top competitive priorities in its application: STEM and Early Learning.
What’s Next: Increasing Washington’s Competitiveness
Though the submission of Washington’s Race to the Top application represents a commitment to education reform in our state, the hard work of delivering on that commitment now begins. As the Department of Education reviews Race to the Top Round 2 applications and chooses finalists, it is critical that Washington state demonstrate its determination to boost student achievement and improve schools.
This means that Washington leaders must take action in the following areas:
- Education Reform Plan: Continue to refine and finalize the reform plan by December 2010.
- Common Core State Standards: Fully adopt the Common Core State Standards before August 1, 2010.
- Teacher & Principal Evaluation Pilot Program: Develop and select “reform-minded” districts that will seek to implement a comprehensive evaluation system that includes within it a significant measure of student growth.
- College & Career-Ready Accountability System: Establish an accountability system capable of identifying programs or actions that impact student performance and career-readiness.
- School Improvement Grants: Provide supports and assistance to districts engaged in the federal School Improvement Grant.
- Teacher Incentive Fund: The state should apply for the federal Teacher Incentive Fund, a grant opportunity to support performance-based compensation, in order to provide resources for the teacher and leader development and effectiveness innovation cluster.
Read Washington’s Race to the Top application here.
State
Gears Up to Strengthen Teacher and Principal Evaluation
Two Washington Efforts Target Educator Effectiveness
In recognition of the national movement toward teacher and principal evaluation reform, Washington is engaged in two efforts designed to strengthen and improve the state’s current teacher and principal evaluation system: the state’s teacher and principal evaluation pilots and federal school improvement grants (SIG). The cornerstone of any effective evaluation system is its ability to produce robust data that can be used to meaningfully differentiate performance, improve teaching and learning and inform strategic human capital decisions, such as tenure, professional development, assignment and compensation. It is our hope that the pilots and SIG evaluation efforts will help educators, policymakers and the public determine how to develop and implement highly effective evaluation systems for the entire state.
Teacher and Principal Evaluation Pilots
Washington’s Race to the Top legislation (SB 6696) requires the implementation of new, four-tiered teacher and principal evaluation systems in every district by 2013-14. Included in the legislation is a two-year pilot program to explore different district evaluation models during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years. The outcomes derived from each pilot district will inform the implementation of new evaluation systems across the state and the consideration of a uniform statewide evaluation system. For this reason, the pilot district selection and implementation process is critical to helping districts across our state develop evaluation systems that will help enable dramatic improvements in teaching and learning.
Applications to participate in the pilot program were submitted to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) on Friday, May 28. The selection process is currently underway and between five to eight districts will likely be selected to participate in the program.
Partnership for Learning suggests that the state select districts to participate in the pilot based on the following criteria: district readiness, culture of accountability and commitment to transparency and collaboration. To learn more about the Teacher and Principal Pilot Program, click here.
School Improvement Grants
In March, OSPI identified the nine districts and eighteen schools that will receive part of $42.5 million, over the next three years, to improve their schools. The funding comes from the federal school improvement grant (SIG), a program designed to provide funding to the lowest performing 5 percent of Title I and Title II schools.
As part of turnaround efforts, schools must select one of four federal intervention models: turnaround, restart, closure and transformation. Of the eighteen schools receiving SIG funding, 15 schools chose the transformation model, which requires the development and implementation of new teacher and principal evaluation systems, which will use student growth data as a significant factor.
With SIG schools required to begin their turnaround efforts by the fall, many districts are working with their union representatives to modify their collective bargaining agreements and allow for the implementation of their chosen intervention model. Seattle School District recently announced that it reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the local teachers union to begin turnaround efforts at its SIG schools (Cleveland High School, Hawthorne and West Seattle Elementary). Teachers at these schools will now be evaluated under a new system, held accountable for meeting student growth targets and able to earn additional money for achieving school-wide targets.
For more information on teacher and principal evaluation, visit The New Teacher Project, National Center on Teacher Quality, and Center for America Progress.