Race to the Top: A Road Map

RACE TO THE TOP  CLASSIC START YOUR  ENGINES This is the original Race to the Top, the administration’s signature education-redesign competition, first created as part of the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the economic stimulus). To get a piece of a $4 billion pie, states had to agree to embrace policies the administration favored, including teacher

evaluation based in part on student outcomes, beefed-up state data systems, and aggressive school turnarounds. States also got an edge for adopting rigorous, common standards. (In practice,

only the Common Core State Standards counted, which got the Obama administration into some major political hot water down the line.)   12 WINNERS: Delaware, the District of Columbia,

Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. GRANTS AWARDED  IN 2010  $4 BILLION RACE TO THE TOP COMMON TESTS The

administration took a piece of the first Race to the Top money in the stimulus, and distributed it to two consortia of states charged with creating tests that would match up with the

common-core standards. The consortia, called the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, have hit some

major roadblocks since then, with a handful of states deciding to quit the groups. And the administration has taken some heat for funding the tests in the first place.   $360   MILLION  2

WINNERS: PARCC, Smarter Balanced GRANTS AWARDED  IN 2010 RACE TO THE TOP CLASSIC (SILVER MEDAL EDITION) Seven non-winning states with high-scoring Race to the Top Classic applications split

an additional $200 million. States got to choose smaller elements of their original proposals to move forward on.   $200   MILLION Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New

Jersey, and Pennsylvania Obama administration kicks off the race RACE TO THE TOP GOES TO PRESCHOOL States competed for $500 million to improve the quality of their early-learning programs,

in part by crafting rating systems, developing appropriate standards and assessments for children, and establishing state standards for teachers.  9 WINNERS:   $500   MILLION RACE TO THE TOP

GOES TO PRESCHOOL (SILVER MEDAL EDITION, PART I) States that had strong showings in the initial Race to the Top Early Learning Competition split $133 million. Since the total was so small,

each state received only a portion of its overall request.   $133  MILLION  5 WINNERS:  Runners-up get a second chance GOES TO PRESCHOOL (Silver Medal Edition,  Part II) RACE TO THE TOP A

year later, the U.S. Department of Education distributed another $89 million to the Race to the Top Early Learning Competition silver medal winners, plus first-round winner California, which

wasn’t fully funded initially. Ultimately, each state wound up with about 75 percent of its application funded.   6 WINNERS:   $89  MILLION RACE TO THE TOP DISTRICTS: LET'S ALL TRY 

PERSONALIZED LEARNING Under this round of Race to the Top, districts were required to come up with plans to customize instruction to particular students’ abilities and interests, using

technology and other tools. Popular strategies included use of mobile devices and individualized learning plans for students, personalized learning coaches for teachers, and data dashboards

that collect all student-learning information in one place. 16 WINNERS,  INCLUDING:   $400  MILLION Twists and turns continue DISTRICTS: LET'S ALL TRY  PERSONALIZED LEARNING (RURAL

EMPHASIS EDITION) RACE TO THE TOP U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan passed over higher-scoring urban districts to give the majority of this round of Race to the Top district awards to

rural applicants, which many argued had been overlooked in previous rounds of Race to the Top. Just one of the winners—Houston—was urban. As in the earlier round, winners were expected to

“personalize” learning for their students.   $120  MILLION 5 WINNERS,  INCLUDING:   Rural districts have their day RACE TO THE TOP GOES TO PRESCHOOL, YET ANOTHER TIME A total of $281 million

went to six states that had never won a Race to the Top early-learning grant. That brought to 20 the total number of Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant winners.  6 WINNERS :    

$281  MILLION RACE TO THE TOP APPLIES TO COLLEGE,  BUT IS REJECTED The Obama administration proposed $1 billion for a Race to the Top program to help states improve higher education

outcomes, including graduation rates, while keeping tuition in check. Congress wasn’t interested.   $ ZERO $1 BILLION PROPOSED,  BUT NOT FUNDED RACE TO THE TOP Preschool Development Grants 

After Congress rejected a new Race to the Top for higher education and a proposed $75 billion, 10-year federal matching program to expand pre-K to more 4-year-olds, the administration

settled simply for new money for early education through Race to the Top. The Education Department hasn’t yet said how the new competition would work, only that it will differ from previous

early-learning rounds.  $250  MILLION RACE TO THE TOP For Equity (Plus Teacher Distribution, School Climate, and Everything But the Kitchen Sink)  Under the administration’s fiscal 2015

budget proposal, districts and states vying for the grants would have to develop data systems that track information on subjects ranging from district-level finances to human resources and

student academic achievement. They would also have to come up with plans for attracting and retaining effective teachers in the neediest schools. Winners could use the grants to help beef up

their coursework and to improve school climate and culture.  CONGRESS MUST FIRST APPROVE THE PROGRAM. WINNERS WOULD BE ANNOUNCED BY THE END OF 2015.  $300  MILLION   PROPOSED