Race to the Top: A Catalyst for Education Reform

The Race to the Top (RTT) program, a $4.35 billion competitive grant initiative by the United States Department of Education, was designed to stimulate innovation and reforms in K-12 education at the state and local district levels. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the program on July 24, 2009. Race to the Top marks a historic moment in American education. This initiative offers bold incentives to states willing to spur systemic reform to improve teaching and learning in America’s schools.

Genesis and Objectives

The Race to the Top program was conceived to encourage states to implement ambitious education reform plans and reward those that had already demonstrated success in boosting student achievement. The program aimed to align state policies and structures with the goal of college and career readiness.

Program Structure and Implementation

State applications for funding were evaluated based on selection criteria totaling 500 points. States were eligible for funding awards ranging from $20 million to $700 million, depending on their share of the federal population of children aged 5-17. Only the four largest states by population (California, Texas, Florida, and New York) were eligible for the highest funding bracket. Over three rounds, 18 states plus the District of Columbia were awarded grants totaling $4.1 billion (not including RTTT-Early Learning Challenge grants).

Phases of the Competition

The Race to the Top program was rolled out in multiple phases:

Phase 1: Applications were due on January 19, 2010. 40 states and the District of Columbia applied for funding. The winners were announced on March 29, 2010.
Phase 2: The deadline for submitting applications was June 1, and decisions were announced on August 24, 2010.
Phase 3: Applications were split into two parts, with Part I due on November 22, 2011, and Part II due on December 16. Awards were announced on December 23. Only Phase 2 finalists who did not earn money were eligible.

Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge

The Department of Education and the United States Department of Health and Human Services jointly conducted the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge. On April 9, 2012, the Department of Education announced a second round of the challenge, with five states (CO, IL, NM, OR, WI) competing for $133 million. On May 22, 2012, the Department of Education proposed draft criteria for a district-level Race to the Top program.

Annual Performance Reports

Annual Performance Reports (APRs) are created for each state to document progress toward the annual and four-year targets set forth in the grantees' applications. The APR measures things like graduating rates. Because the performance measures included in the applications are indicators of success in improving student outcomes, the APR is one way to hold states accountable for meeting targets in improving student outcomes. An APR also includes reports and updates on laws, statutes, regulations, and/or guidelines that impact reform plans, as well as progress in meeting the "absolute priority" and "competitive preference priority", which emphasize a comprehensive focus on reform and an emphasis on STEM education.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

In 2009, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers coordinated the Common Core State Standards Initiative among the states. The governor and chief state school officer of every state except Alaska and Texas signed a memorandum agreeing to participate in this historic effort to establish rigorous, common academic standards across the states. Published in 2010, the Common Core consists of learning standards in English language arts and literacy (ELA) and mathematics for grades K-12. The standards are intended to improve college- and career-readiness among high school graduates. The standards establish expectations rather than specific curricula. States and localities determine how to implement the standards. Federal officials used the incentive of Race to the Top funding during a severe economic recession to direct states toward four paths aligned with the Obama Administration’s vision for education reform, including state adoption of the Common Core. States pledging to adopt the Common Core (or equivalent) could earn up to 70 points out of 500 possible points on the 2010 Race to the Top grant application. States were eligible for $20 million to $700 million. By 2010, 43 states and Washington, D.C. had adopted the Common Core.

Federal Incentives and State Adoption

The federal government played a significant role in incentivizing states to adopt the Common Core. States pledging to adopt the Common Core (or equivalent) could earn up to 70 points out of 500 possible points on the 2010 Race to the Top grant application. The federal government granted a total of $362 million in Race to the Top and supplemental federal funds to the two consortia. The Department of Education offered state waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

The Role of Common Standards and Shared Assessments

The development of common standards and shared assessments radically alters the market for innovation in curriculum development, professional development, and formative assessments. Previously, these markets operated on a state-by-state basis, and often on a district-by-district basis. Thus, with almost every state using common standards and common tests, and with a massive data warehouse to track student and teacher progress, entrepreneurs would be attracted to work in a national marketplace, where their products would reach a national consumer base. This was the promise of Race to the Top and Common Core.

Impact on State Education Policies

Several states altered their education policies to enhance their competitiveness in the Race to the Top program. For example:

Read also: Educational Insights Race Car

Illinois increased the cap on the number of charter schools it allows from 60 to 120.
Massachusetts passed legislation to "aggressively intervene in [its] lowest-performing schools".
West Virginia proposed, but did not establish, a performance-based salary system that would have included student achievement in its compensation calculations.

In order to be eligible, states couldn't have laws prohibiting the use of measures of student achievement growth in teacher evaluations.

States' Rights and Federalism

Education has often been treated as a “reserved power” of the states under the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. However, the Constitution also grants Congress power to tax and spend to provide for the “general welfare” and to adopt laws “necessary and proper” in order to do so. Federal activism in education has sometimes provoked opposition from states seeking to safeguard their interests. There is ongoing political controversy over federal and state roles in education. Major federal education laws such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 specify limits on federal power, including prohibitions on federally-mandated curricula. Federal government support for Common Core fueled opposition from states’ rights advocates. Opponents levied arguments pertaining to federal overreach and local control of education. The politics of federalism pertaining to Common Core is evident in the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, the law that replaced NCLB. Many states later repealed or revised the Common Core as it became immersed in the politics of federalism. Governors and other state policymakers aimed to show constituents that they were safeguarding state autonomy to determine their own, respective academic standards. The substance of Common Core repeals and revisions typically differed from the rhetoric.

State Autonomy vs. National Standards

The Race to the Top program ignited debates about the appropriate balance between state autonomy and national standards in education. While proponents argued that common standards would improve college- and career-readiness and promote innovation, critics raised concerns about federal overreach and the potential for a "one-size-fits-all" approach that might not meet the unique needs of individual states and localities.

Virginia's Withdrawal

On May 26, 2010, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell withdrew the state from the second round of the competition. Virginia finished 31st out of 41 states in the first round, but McDonnell said that Virginia would not continue for the second round, believing the competition required the use of common education performance standards instead of Virginia's current standards.

Criticism and Controversy

Although the vast majority of states have competed to win the grants, Race to the Top has also been criticized by politicians, policy analysts, thought leaders, and educators.

Concerns about Teacher Evaluations

Teachers' unions argued that state tests are an inaccurate way to measure teacher effectiveness, considering the fact that learning gains on assessments is only one component of the evaluation systems. Critics further contend that the reforms being promoted are unproven or have been unsuccessful in the past.

Subjectivity and Bias

The Economic Policy Institute released a report in April 2010 finding that "the selection of Delaware and Tennessee was subjective and arbitrary, more a matter of bias or chance than a result of these states' superior compliance with reform policies". Finally, the American Enterprise Institute released a report in September 2010 finding disparities in Race to the Top scores versus the education reform track records and ratings of states from outside, independent sources.

The “Race” Metaphor

Be it noted that a “Race to the Top” is a bizarre metaphor for education in a democratic society. In any race, only a few reach the top, while most are left behind in the dust. That would seem to be a repudiation of the principle of equality of educational opportunity.

Examples of Successful Integration

Race to the Top states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida successfully integrated multiple data systems to provide a range of tailored resources and information for different audiences (e.g., teachers, students, parents). In such integrated systems, students can access their assignments, grades and learning activities; parents can view the academic expectations of their child, and his or her school attendance and grades; and teachers and principals can access their students' data and find strategies and resources (e.g., sample lesson plans) to meet their instructional needs. Race to the Top states provided extensive training opportunities for teachers to increase their data analysis skills and use student performance data to customize learning for individual students.

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