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."
Governor Steve Beshear released a statement today on Race to the Top.
“While we are disappointed that Kentucky did not win an award in the second round of Race to the Top funding, we are confident that the steps we are taking in education will significantly improve the education experience for Kentucky’s students. The fact that Kentucky was named a finalist twice for these funds speaks to the success of the combined efforts of my office, the Department of Education (KDE) and the General Assembly.What impact will Kentucky's failure to "win" the race have on the state?
We will continue to move forward with our vision for education reform through the ongoing efforts of the Governor’s Transforming Education in Kentucky task force, as well as the implementation of Senate Bill 1 of 2009.”
Lacking an on-going financial motivation to adhere to the guidance of the Obama Administration, will Kentucky educators further entrench against charter schools - the single element whose absence from Kentucky's application clearly cost the state?
In any case, unless Congress allocates additional money for a third round of RTTT, that well has dried up.
When asked recently about this possible result, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday told KSN&C that he remains confident that foundation sources still exist to help the state build the new assessment demanded by Senate Bill 1. But for today, Kentucky is out of the race as once again, other states, including Ohio to our north and Tennessee to our south, press ahead.
As for consolations - there really aren't any - how close Kentucky got will be revealed by the Department of Education tomorrow. Kentucky scored 418 points in round 1. The lowest "winning" state in round 2 scored 440.
UPDATED: Scores for the second round have now been posted and the news is not good. Kentucky dropped to 19th among the states and actually lost points (412.4) over phase one.
While peer reviewers rated the 10 winners 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. New York, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina consumed the lion's share of the available funds.
"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.
Letter to governors
Applications
Summary for Phase 2 applicants
Race to the Top website
Video Announcement
Call with reporters
3 comments:
I hope it did not hurt Kentucky that teachers are told by principals to teach to the test. Maybe the next round.....
Actually, my principal has told me not to "teach to the test." He is not for that, though that is what he was taught by the Superintendent. My principal believe that teachers should simply teach the curriculum and that the rest will follow, including solid test scores.
How about an apology to the children of Kentucky from those who agreed last December not to include charter school legislation in our Race to the Top Application? The case that SBDM councils provide everything charter schools have was laughable. If you’re going to be competitive you can’t just give away an entire chunk of points. I am so mad and sad about this lack of vision and the predictable end result.
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