Race to the Top

Delaware's View from the Top

maureen — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:02:11 -0500

Check out this report from Partnership for Learning's friends at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, entitled "Delaware's Race to the Deliver."

When Delaware won the first round of Race to the Top Funding in early 2010, Lillian Lowery, Delaware’s Secretary of Education, asked Delaware’s Vision 2015 coalition to “hold the state’s feet to the fire” and report on its progress in meeting Race to the Top commitments. This report strives to do just that. It also presents progress on two other critical issues—early childhood education and school funding—which Vision 2015 deems essential to a system of world-class schools.

To learn more about Delaware's work to deliver on the state's Race to the Top Education Reform Plan, visit Vision 2015's website.

Obama Administration Maintains Commitment to Education in the 2012 Budget

maureen — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:42:39 -0600

This week, the Obama Administration released its education budget for FY 2012, which begins in October. President Obama’s budget continues the administration’s support of education and asks for $77.4 billion—about a 4 percent increase from 2010 (the most recent fiscal year). The president’s commitment to the reforms advanced by the Race to the Top (including turning around the lowest performing schools and recruiting, retaining and promoting effective teachers and leaders) are evident in the following funding priorities:

$600 million for School Improvement Grants, which would get a new name: School Turnaround
Grants. That's a $54 million boost from 2010.
$500 million for a competitive program modeled on the Teacher Incentive Fund called the "Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund."
$250 million for Teacher and Leader Pathways, a competitive grant program to help improve teacher and leader preparation programs.
$900 million for another round of Race to the Top grants, which would be just for school districts and include a special set-aside for rural districts.
$300 million for a new round of Investing in Innovation grants which would include STEM programs as a priority.
$150 million for the Promise Neighborhoods program, which will help communities create comprehensive programs like the Harlem Children’s Zone.

By proposing continued investments in the innovative programs and practices promoted by the federal education stimulus, the President is signaling that the reforms incentivized by Race to the Top are here to stay. States that have begun to put in place reforms that turnaround their lowest-achieving schools, recruit, retain and promote effective teachers and leaders, and focus squarely on accelerating student achievement will be in the best place to take advantage of these new funding opportunities. States that do not, will be left behind. Clearly, it will be up to Washington leaders to determine whether or not our state is with the states implementing key reforms or behind them.

To learn more about the Obama Administration’s FY 2012 education budget, check out this Education Week story and visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

Washington Wins Assessment Grant, Seattle Wins Contract Reform

maureen — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:54:22 -0500

Washington Wins Common Assessment Consortium Grant
Seattle Contract Settles on Reform

Washington Wins Common Assessment Consortium Grant

On September 2, Sec. Arne Duncan announced the winners of the Common Core Assessment Grant: the SMARTER-Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC), $160 million; and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC), $170 million. Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top funding, the competition requires consortia of states to collaborate and develop assessments that are aligned to the Common Core Standards, support and inform instruction, and provide accurate information about whether or not students are on track to graduate prepared for success.

Washington serves as a governing state member and fiscal sponsor of the SBAC and will help coordinate the development of a state-of-the-art adaptive online assessment exam, using “open-source” technology. The online system will provide accurate assessment information to teachers and others on the progress of all students, including:

Summative exams, to be offered twice a year;
Optional formative, or benchmark, exams; and
A variety of tools, processes and practices that teachers can turn to in planning and implementing informal, ongoing assessments. This will assist teachers in understanding what students are and are not learning on a daily basis so they can adjust instruction accordingly.

Leading the SBAC consortium provides Washington an incredible opportunity to shape the future of assessment in our nation. With the Common Core Standards as their guide, it will be up to our state’s leaders to develop the tools necessary to chart a path for students toward graduating college and work ready.

Funding for the assessment grant will be distributed by Oct. 1 and the assessments will be available by the 2014-2015 school year.

Race to the Top Assessment Program Consortia
Consortia	Assessment Focus	States Participating	Governing States	Funding Received
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)	Computer-based assessments anchored in college and career readiness.	26 states	Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.	$170M
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC)	Curriculum-embedded, computer-adaptive assessments.	31 states *(including Washington state)	Oregon, Washington, Utah Idaho, Michigan, Wisconsin and Maine.	$160M

For more information on the Common Core Assessment Grant, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

For more information on Washington’s SBAC Consortium, visit OSPI’s website.

Seattle Contract Settles on Reform

After months of negotiation, on Sept. 2, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association settled on a new teachers’ contract. Including such reforms as using student growth data in teacher evaluations, mutual consent hiring and additional compensation for master teachers, the contract represents a strong commitment to closing the achievement gap, accelerating student learning and supporting teachers.

Specifically, spanning the 2010-2013 school years, the contract includes:

Area	Elements of the New Agreement
Teacher Support & Development	· One-hour additional paid time per week for elementary and K-8 teachers without altering school day schedule. · Greater flexibility for all schools to increase planning and collaboration time. · Doubles number of STAR mentors; increases length of program to 3 years.
Performance & Evaluation	· Four-tiered performance evaluation scale including measures of effectiveness (quantitative and subjective; a combination of observation and academic achievement data). · Multiple measures of student growth, including MAP, state and district assessments, and teacher-determined growth goals tied to evaluations. · Eliminates super-seniority. Eliminates forced placements in Tier 1 (low-performing) schools. Implements mutual consent hiring. RIFs still determined by seniority. · Low-performing teachers identified quickly, provided with defined set of supports; if unable to improve, removal is expedited.
Compensation & Career Opportunities	· 1% raise for all teachers in years two and three. · Stipends for master, mentor, demonstration and service teachers ranging from $2K-$5.2K. · Additional funds ($500/per) set aside to help struggling teachers.

Partnership for Learning, as a member of the Our Schools Coalition, commends the leadership at Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association for their dedication to a collaborative bargaining process and their commitment to all of Seattle's students.

To learn more about the Seattle Schools Contract, check out this summary from the Our Schools Coalition.

Check out PFL's Race to the Top Round Two Analysis

maureen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:29:19 -0500

Looking for highlights and observations from Race to the Top Round Two Winners? Wondering how Washington fared against other states in Race to the Top? We've got you covered.

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

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

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.

Washington Places 32nd out 36 in Race to the Top Round Two

maureen — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:19:56 -0500

This just in: Washington placed 32nd out of 36 states in Round Two Race to the Top. The state scored 290 out of 500 points on its application. For more information, check out these rankings from the U.S. Department of Education.

Nine States and the District of Columbia Win Race to the Top Round 2 Grants

maureen — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:00:26 -0500

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that 10 applicants have won grants in the second phase of the Race to the Top competition. Along with Phase 1 winners Delaware and Tennessee, 11 states and the District of Columbia have now been awarded money in the Obama Administration's groundbreaking education reform program that will directly impact 13.6 million students, and 980,000 teachers in 25,000 schools.

The 10 winning Phase 2 applications in alphabetical order are: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

"These states show what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," said Secretary Arne Duncan. "Every state that applied showed a tremendous amount of leadership and a bold commitment to education reform. The creativity and innovation in each of these applications is breathtaking," Duncan continued. "We set a high bar and these states met the challenge."

While peer reviewers rated these 10 as having the highest scoring plans, very few points separated them from the remaining applications. The deciding factor on the number of winners selected hinged on both the quality of the applications and the funds available.

"We had many more competitive applications than money to fund them in this round," Duncan said. "We're very hopeful there will be a Phase 3 of Race to the Top and have requested $1.35 billion dollars in next year's budget. In the meantime, we will partner with each and every state that applied to help them find ways to carry out the bold reforms they've proposed in their applications."

A total of 46 states and the District of Columbia put together comprehensive education reform plans to apply for Race to the Top in Phases 1 and 2. Over the course of the Race to the Top competition, 35 states and the District of Columbia have adopted rigorous common, college- and career-ready standards in reading and math, and 34 states have changed laws or policies to improve education.

Every state that applied has already done the hard work of collaboratively creating a comprehensive education reform agenda. In the coming months, the Department plans to bring all States together to help ensure the success of their work implementing reforms around college- and career-ready standards, data systems, great teachers and leaders, and school turnarounds.

In addition to the reforms supported by Race to the Top, the Department has made unprecedented resources available through reform programs like the Investing in Innovation Fund, the Teacher Incentive Fund, and the School Improvement Grants under Title I.

Through all of these programs, the Department of Education will be distributing almost $10 billion to support reform in states and local communities.

"As we look at the last 18 months, it is absolutely stunning to see how much change has happened at the state and local levels, unleashed in part by these incentive programs," Duncan said.

As with any federal grant program, budgets will be finalized after discussions between the grantees and the Department, and the money will be distributed over time as the grantees meet established benchmarks.

The $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. The program includes $4 billion for statewide reform grants and $350 million to support states working together to improve the quality of their assessments, which the Department plans to award in September. The Race to the Top state competition is designed to reward states that are leading the way in comprehensive, coherent, statewide education reform across four key areas:

Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace;
Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals how to improve instruction;
Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
Turning around their lowest-performing schools.

The 10 winning applicants have adopted rigorous common, college- and career-ready standards in reading and math, created pipelines and incentives to put the most effective teachers in high-need schools, and all have alternative pathways to teacher and principal certification.

In the first round of competition supporting state-based reforms, Delaware and Tennessee won grants based on their comprehensive plans to reform their schools and the statewide support for those plans.

The Department of Education has posted all Phase 2 applications online. Phase 2 peer reviewers' comments, and scores will be available on the website by August 25th; videos of states' presentations will be posted by September 10th. Phase 1 materials are available online.

For more information, including letters to governors and a summary of applicant scores, and please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website.

	Phase 2 Grantee	Budget Not to Exceed...	Phase 2 Score	Phase 1 Score	Score Change
1	Massachusetts	$250,000,000	471.0	411.4	59.6
2	New York	$700,000,000	464.8	408.6	56.2
3	Hawaii	$75,000,000	462.4	364.6	97.8
4	Florida	$700,000,000	452.4	431.4	21
5	Rhode Island	$75,000,000	451.2	419.0	32.2
6	District of Columbia	$75,000,000	450.0	402.4	47.6
7	Maryland	$250,000,000	450.0	N/A	N/A
8	Georgia	$400,000,000	446.4	433.6	12.8
9	North Carolina	$400,000,000	441.6	414.0	27.6
10	Ohio	$400,000,000	440.8	418.6

Frontrunners in Reform: Who's Racing to the Top?

maureen — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:15:25 -0500

On July 27, the U.S. Department of Education announced 19 finalists for the second round of Race to the Top grant funding. While each finalist demonstrated a strong reform platform through legislation and strategic implementation plans, the question remains: Who will be chosen to join Delaware and Tennessee as Race to the Top winners?

For a summary of Round Two Race to the Top Finalist applications, as well as predictions for winners, please view our analysis.

Frontrunners in Reform: Who's Racing to the Top?

maureen — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:26:29 -0500

For a summary of Round Two Race to the Top Finalist applications, as well as predictions for winners, please view our analysis.

NCTQ Releases "The Final Stretch in the Race to the Top"

maureen — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:04:38 -0500

With $3.4 billion in Round 2 Race to the Top funds up for grabs, and 19 finalists making their final pitches in Washington, D.C., this week, the National Council on Teacher Quality asseses the "Great Teachers and Leaders" sections of their proposals and recommends which states should be given green, yellow, and red lights.

Download the brief