Race to the Top was a 4.35 billion dollar competitive grant programme run by the US Department of Education, announced on July 24, 2009 by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to reward states for education-reform policies rather than distribute funds by formula. States earned points, on a 500-point scoring scale, for adopting common academic standards, performance-based teacher and principal evaluation, expanding charter schools, turning around low-performing schools and building better education data systems; across three competition rounds in 2010 and 2011 it awarded 18 states plus Washington, D.C. a total of 4.1 billion dollars, reaching about 22 million students, some 45 percent of US K-12 enrollment. Teachers' unions criticized the evaluation system's reliance on state standardized tests as an inaccurate measure of teacher effectiveness.
Facts
Classification
Policy TypeAssessment or Standards Policy 1 Education LevelPrimary Education (ISCED 1) 2 Education LevelLower Secondary Education (ISCED 2) 2 Education LevelUpper Secondary Education (ISCED 3) 2 Key ProvisionAwarded competitive grants, scored on a 500-point criteria system, to states enacting policies such as performance-based teacher evaluation, common academic standards, charter-school expansion and turning around low-performing schools. 1 Enacted / Adopted Year FAQs
How did Race to the Top push states to adopt common standards?
Through scored points and an August 1, 2010 deadline.
States earned points in their grant applications for adopting common standards, and adoption was accelerated by an August 1, 2010 deadline, after which states would not receive points toward round 2 applications for doing so.
Connections
Associated With
The Common Core State Standards were one set of standards states could adopt to satisfy Race to the Top's common-standards scoring criterion, and Race to the Top funded assessments aligned to them.
Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationRace to the Top, Criteria for Funding section
State applications for funding were scored on selection criteria worth a total of 500 points.
Description, policy-kind classification
States earned points, on a 500-point scoring scale, for adopting common academic standards, performance-based teacher and principal evaluation, expanding charter schools, turning around low-performing schools and building better education data systems; across three competition rounds in 2010 and 2011 it awarded 18 states plus Washington, D.C.
View the Source 2. Race to the Top (Wikipedia)
Lead section
Race to the Top (R2T, RTTT or RTT) was a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competitive grant created to spur and reward innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education.
Race to the Top, Introduction and Criteria for Funding sections
States competing for the grants were awarded points for enacting certain educational policies, instituting performance-based evaluations for teachers and principals based on multiple measures of educator effectiveness
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