Race+to+the+Top

=Race to the Top=

Developing Common Standards
Between 2008 and 2010 the Gates Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided $35 million to two non-governmental trade organizations the National Governors Association Center of Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The purpose was to create a common core of knowledge in math and English/language arts for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. 48 states and three U.S. territories contributed to the process. Governors Palin of Alaska and Perry of Texas declined to participate.

In February of 2009 President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the Stimulus Bill. This provided $4.35 billion dollars as an executive earmark, which means no strings attached, for the Department of Education. The Department of Education used the money to fund the Race to the Top competition. In order for a state to be a viable candidate in the competition they needed to meet criteria in these specific areas:

//(Race to the Top, ed.gov)//
 * Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;
 * Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
 * Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
 * Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

The Common Core standards developed by the Gates-funded organizations would meet these standards. If a state does not want to adopt the Common Core they would need to prove that their state standards were just as rigorous.

In 2009 every state was desperate for money and the chance to get their hands on some rare federal funds for education. 40 states and the District of Columbia applied for the competition. In March, 2010 it was announced that two states had won the first phase of the competition. Delaware received $100 million and Tennessee got $500 million. Phase 2 winners were due to be announced in August, 2010 so many states made a big push to implement reforms in order to make themselves viable candidates. Among other reforms Illinois adopted the Common Core standards in June, 2010. Nine more states and the District of Columbia were the winners of Phase 2. These states received between $75 million and $700 million each.

Phase 3 is now available to states that were finalists but not winners of Phase 2. Illinois is one of nine eligible states. The application information for Phase 3 details that states with a strong push for supporting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) will be viewed favorably.

At the time the state of Illinois submits its application, there must be no "legal, statutory, or regulatory barriers at the State level to linking data on student achievement or student growth to teachers and principals for the purpose of teacher and principal evaluation." //(Race to the Top, ed.gov )//

The grant awards for Phase 3 were announced in late December, 2011. Illinois will receive $43 million. Approximately half will be doled out to Illinois' 868 school districts. The rest of the money will be used to support implementation of Common Core standards.

Developing Common Assessments
Another aspect of Race to the Top was a challenge to design a new generation of assessments aligned with a common set of college- and career-ready standards. The competition to design assessments was announced in April, 2010. The Department of Education awarded approximately $330 million in September, 2010 to two consortia. The two groups chosen were Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and SMARTER Balanced Testing Consortium. Illinois is one of 24 states that comprise PARCC.



30 other states are members of SMARTER. A few states are members of both. There are a handful of states that have not yet decided with which group to partner or have decided against this collaborative process in order to maintain independence.

These two organizations are now in a race against the clock to design appropriate assessments, choose a test-creation company, and have all of it ready for the start of the 2014 school year.

Dissenting Views
Not everyone is enthusiastic about the idea of common standards and common assessments. Many believe that schools should be controlled locally. Community values and local common knowledge should be the paramount factor in making decision about schools. This has come to the fore at times when educators have made decisions about curriculum, such as choosing a text book, that may not align with some strongly held community beliefs. An example is the controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution in science classes.

There has been strong resistance to the idea of national standards. The fact that two organizations got together, with a huge assist from the donation by the Gates Foundation, and created common standards is amazing. Many dissenters feel that the federal government bribed the states into adopting the Common Core Standards by dangling the Race to the Top funds in front of the states' empty coffers.

This video from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank whose mission it is to "formulate and promote conservative public policy," (//Heritage.org//) explains their position opposing the Common Core Standards and common assessments.

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On October 25, 2011 a group disrupted a New York Department of Education meeting. By borrowing the "brand" of the popular Occupy Wall Street movement this group made a strong and organized statement. The crowd chants interrupting an address by guest speaker David Coleman who was a chief writer of the English/Language Arts common standards. The group contends that "the city did not sufficiently engage parents and teachers in its decision to adapt instruction to the common standards (which New York state adopted in July 2010). Demonstrators also chant that the city wants to raise standards without the supports that students need to reach them." (//Curriculum Matters blog//) The Occupy the DoE movement in New York City was organized by NYCORE the New York Collective of Radical Educators.

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Resources
Gerwertz, Catherine. //Anti-Common-Core Resolution Advances in Legislative Group//. Curriculum Matters blog. Education Week. December 2, 2011. @http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2011/12/american_legislative_exchange.html

Occupy the DoE. NYCORE: New York Collective of Radical Educators. Retrieved December 1, 2011. @http://www.nycore.org/occupy-the-doe/

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Retrieved October 30, 2011. @http://www.parcconline.org/

Race To The Top. Truth in American Education. Retrieved November 15, 2011. @http://truthinamericaneducation.com/race-to-the-top/

Race to the Top Assessment Program: Public and Expert Input Meetings. November, 2009 through January, 2010. @http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/input-meetings.html

SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Retrieved October 30, 2011. @http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/

United States Education. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved November 1, 2011 @http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Pages/education-strategy.aspx