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Category Archives: Race to the Top
Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge
From Carrie Winslow over on CEC Policy Insider. This week, the White House announced the second annual Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. Public high schools across the country are once again invited to compete to host the … Continue reading
Posted in Administration, Race to the Top
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USDOE Awards 2 Consortia Grants to Develop Assessments for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
This week, the U.S. Department of Education announced the winners of its competition to develop the “next generation” of assessments based on alternate achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The winners are the National Center and State Collaborative Partnership, which is a group of 18 states and received $45 million, and the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment System Consortium, which represents 11 states and received $22 million. Notably, each of the consortia will design assessments with formative and summative capabilities, meaning that teachers will be able to get real time data and yet the tests will… Continue reading
Posted in Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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Race to the Top Winners Face Potential Change in Leadership with Upcoming Elections
When American’s go to the polls on Election Day (November 2nd) they will elect 435 members of the House of Representatives, 36 Senators, and 37 Governors. Interestingly, 10 of the 12 states that won Race to the Top (RTTT) funding will host gubernatorial elections, establishing a scenario whereby a switch in political parties and leadership may mean a shift in education reform philosophy and could, potentially impact implementation of approved Race to the Top grants. Educators and policy wonks will be closely watching gubernatorial elections in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and the mayoral… Continue reading
Posted in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Economic Stimulus), Race to the Top
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Economic Stimulus Funds Fuel Development of Common State Assessments
One of the most popular criticisms of No Child Left Behind is its emphasis on standardized assessments. In part, the concerns about these tests result from NCLB’s requirement that each state develop its own curriculum and achievement standards and its own test to judge student performance. As a result, there are 50 different standards and 50 different tests, which make it impossible to compare how students are performing across the nation. Yesterday, in hopes of addressing this criticism, the U.S. Department of Education, as a part of the Race to the Top Program, awarded $330 million to two groups of… Continue reading
Posted in NCLB/ESEA, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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Race to the Top Winners Announced: What Will it Mean for Special and Gifted Education?
Just as students around the nation are heading back to school, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan announced which of these student’s states won the Race to the Top and which lost: 9 states and the District of Columbia are the Race to the Top winners in Round Two. Here is a list of the big winners, the amounts they will receive and their score:• District of Columbia: $75 million. Score: 450.0 • Florida: $700 million. Score: 452.4 • Georgia: $400 million. Score: 446.4 • Hawaii: $75 million. Score: 462.4 • Maryland: $250 million. Score: 450.0 • Massachusetts: $250 million…. Continue reading
Posted in Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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Obama Defends Race to the Top
In major policy speech before the National Urban League, President Obama defended the cornerstone of his Administration’s education policy – the Race to the Top – a $4.35 billion dollar competitive grant program that has incentivized states to adopt pay for performance systems and remove caps on charter schools. The President’s speech to the National Urban League, followed just days after the League and six other civil rights organizations released a joint statement criticizing the Race to the Top initiative as being anti-civil rights and proposing their own ideas for creating positive change. This statement raised several concerns about the… Continue reading
Posted in Administration, Race to the Top
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Race to the Top Proposals Outline Next Generation of Assessments; Consideration of Students with Disabilities Highlighted
The Obama Administration’s Race to the Top (RTTT) assessment program has received two applications from groups of states looking to embark on the ‘next generation’ of assessments. Creating new, better, and common assessments has been a cornerstone of the Administration’s RTTT program, recognizing the need to improve the current design of assessments and that assessment data is incomparable between states. As CEC has previously reported on this blog, the RTTT program is a collection of education reforms authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the economic stimulus package. While much of the attention has been on… Continue reading
Posted in Administration, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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U.S. Department of Education Awards 20 States Grants for Longitudinal Data Systems; Impact on Special Education Unknown
Last week, the Institute for Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, announced that 20 states will be awarded grants to design and implement statewide longitudinal data systems. These data systems are intended to collect and connect data from early childhood education through career. To be eligible for funding, states must assure that their systems contain numerous requirements, including the following capabilities: • to examine individual student progress and outcomes over from preschool through postsecondary education and into the workforce; • to enable the exchange of data among agencies; • to link student data with teachers;… Continue reading
Posted in Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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Delaware, Tennessee Awarded Race to the Top Grants to Implement Education Reforms
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced Delaware and Tennessee as the first states to receive Race to the Top grants. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the $4 billion Race to the Top program (RTTT) seeks to provide states with funding to implement education reforms in 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,… Continue reading
Posted in Administration, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Economic Stimulus), Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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16 States Make First Cut in $4 Billion Race to the Top Competition
On March 4, the U.S. Department of Education announced that 16 states are finalists in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition, the $4 billion initiative to implement education reforms. The finalists are: Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Finalists were chosen based on a peer review process and will now have to provide an oral presentation of their applications in mid-March, a process that will be on video and publically available, prior to receiving awards for this first phase… Continue reading
Posted in Administration, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Economic Stimulus), Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education
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