No Child Left Behind became the standard under George W. Bush. With Barack Obama’s rise to office comes a new plan called Race to the Top that could eventually replace No Child Left Behind.
The program is starting out as a federal grant open to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. North Carolina is one of 40 states that applied for the first round of the grant, which will be awarded to 10 states.
According to an executive summary from the U.S. Department of Education, Race to the Top is a competitive grant program designed “to encourage and reward states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform, achieving significant improvement in student outcomes ... and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas.” Funding for the grant, to the tune of $4.35 billion, comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
In order to apply for the grant, North Carolina had to complete an application totaling 193 pages and indicate the support of the school systems in the state in implementing the standards handed down by the federal government regarding education.
All 115 school districts in the state supported Gov. Bev Perdue’s decision to apply by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Part of the reason for this could be the fact that school systems, or local education agencies, that do not support the application will not be eligible for funding if North Carolina receives the grant.
“The governor asked all 115 districts to support applying and all 115 agreed. We can make it work and use it to move our district forward to the best of our ability,” said Dr. Darrin Hartness, superintendent of Mount Airy City Schools. “I can’t predict the significance of this, but we will use what resources we get to make our schools better.”
Area educators are unsure exactly what the grant will mean for school systems, but they do believe that once the grant, which will go through two rounds, wraps up, Race to the Top will become a national standard.
North Carolina has requested around $469 million over four years from the grant. Half of that money would be spent at the state level by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The other half would be distributed to the school systems based on a formula devised by the state. If the state receives the grant, the systems would have 90 days to develop a scope of work detailing how they would spend the money while following regulations set out by the state department of education. The scope of work submitted by the systems must include specific goals, activities, timelines, budgets, key personnel and annual targets for key performance measures in accordance with the state’s guidelines.
There are still questions about what the federal government will require and what will be the emphasis for reform. The overview provided by the USED, however, mentions four core areas that will presumably be the focus.
The first area deals with adopting standards and assessments to prepare students for college or the workplace. This could come in the form of national testing standards rather than the state standards that are in place at this time. The second area deals with creating data systems to measure student growth and success and report back to teachers and principals.
“That’s the talk, is going back to a national assessment,” said Dr. Ashley Hinson, superintendent of Surry County Schools. “North Carolina is big in using data to improve student achievement so the state believes what they are asking for is not a stretch.”
“I think part of the money will be used in developing formative assessments. These are shorter assessments given throughout the school year,” said Hartness of assessments which would allow teachers to improve instruction immediately instead of during the next school year. “There is a movement to some national standards in reading and math. Forty-nine of the 50 states support that. It would give us an idea of how our students compare across the nation.”
The third area of reform deals with recruiting and retaining effective teachers and principals. Teachers will be tied to student achievement under the new plan, which has caused some controversy in negotiating with school systems to approve the application process. Under this plan, teacher salaries would be tied to student achievement. Administrators do not know at this point to what extent the link will reach. One part of this area is implementing a new teacher and principal evaluation system. North Carolina has already formed a new teacher evaluation process which will be implemented this year.
The fourth area deals with turning around low-performing schools, something administrators believe schools in Surry County will not have to face.
“We don’t have low-achieving schools in Surry County. All three of our school districts are high-performing,” said Hartness. “We’re just blessed here in Surry County.”
The federal government has listed a number of ideas for turning around school systems to produce high-performing students. One of those ideas is to increase the number of charter schools. Obama and the USED even went so far as to say that states that have a cap on the number of charter schools allowed would be hurt during the application process.
However, Perdue sent a letter to the USED detailing a number of other ways school systems can undergo reform without the use of charter schools, including early colleges, magnet schools and virtual schools, among others. The wording in the grant process was then changed to allow states with a cap on charter schools to remain competitive in the grant process.
States submitting applications for the grant will be graded by the selection committee according to a rubric which awards points in a number of categories where the highest total of achievable points is 500.
All applications must show that states meet the absolute priority to even be considered for the grant. The absolute priority focuses on a comprehensive approach to education reform. Applications must show how the state will use Race to the Top funding to increase student achievement, decrease achievement gaps and increase graduation rates.
The second priority for the application is a competitive preference priority that includes an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Schools who meet this priority will receive 15 additional points.
Hinson and Hartness said they can see why some school systems and states are hesitant to apply for the grant, because the extent to which the federal government will be involved in the schools is still an unknown factor. The superintendents also said those school systems and states that are applying for the grant chose to do so with the thought that if this becomes the national standard, it will be better to implement it when there is funding available rather than try to find funding elsewhere.
North Carolina should hear in April whether or not it has received the grant during the first round. If the state does not receive a first-round grant, it can reapply for the second round. Applications for that are due later this spring.
For more information about Race to the Top and North Carolina’s application, visit Perdue’s Web site at racetothetop.nc.gov or the national Race to the Top fund Web site at www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html.
Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.
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