by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
Federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan, in a recent article in The Washington Post titled “Education Reform’s Moon Shot,” referred to Race for the Top, the Ed. Department’s $4.35 billion competitive award fund, implementing four interconnected reforms.
Adopting common, internationally benchmarked K-12 standards that will prepare kids for college and careers; closing the data gap, monitoring student advances and identifying effective instructional practices; boosting the quality of teachers and principals especially in high-poverty areas and rewarding top-notch teachers and replacing those who aren’t up to the job; and turning around lowest performing schools with far reaching reforms, from replacing staff and leadership to changing school culture.
Extra weight will be given to proposals that focus on science, math, technology and engineering and openness to charter schools is important.
Proposals are due in December and to land a grant, states must link teacher evaluation and compensation to student test scores-- a hurdle for some states that immediately eliminates New York and California where such practices are barred.
What‘s the fund looking for? Not the status quo!
E-Mail Story
Print Story
