Oklahoma Fails in Race To The Top Bid

In June of last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the Race To The Top (RTTT) initiative as a series of competitive grants to states as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Forty-one states, including the District of Columbia (and Oklahoma), submitted proposals to the first round of the Through Race to the Top.

In the program announcement the U.S. Department of Educations (USDOE) gave the following description: “We are asking States to advance reforms around four specific areas:

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.

Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform. Race to the Top winners will help trail-blaze effective reforms and provide examples for States and local school districts throughout the country to follow as they too are hard at work on reforms that can transform our schools for decades to come.”

Last Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Delaware and Tennessee have won grants in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition.

“We received many strong proposals from states all across America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee,” Duncan said in announcing the winners. “Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students.”

Delaware will receive approximately $100 million and Tennessee $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years. As with any federal grant program, budgets will be finalized after discussions between the grantees and the Department, and the money will be distributed over time as the grantees meet established benchmarks.

The U.S. Department of Education will have about $3.4 billion available for the second phase of the Race to the Top competition.

“We set a very high bar for the first phase,” Duncan said. “With $3.4 billion still available, we’re providing plenty of opportunity for all other states to develop plans and aggressively pursue reform.”

The $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. The program includes $4 billion for statewide reform grants and $350 million to support states working together to improve the quality of their assessments. The Race to the Top state competition is designed to reward states that are leading the way in comprehensive, coherent, statewide education reform across four key areas:

Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace;

Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals how to improve instruction;

Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and turning around their lowest-performing schools.

The peer reviewers awarded the highest scores to Delaware and Tennessee. They awarded Delaware and Tennessee high marks for the commitment to reform from key stakeholders, including elected officials, teacher’s union leaders, and business leaders. In both states, all school districts committed to implementing Race to the Top reforms. Delaware and Tennessee also have aggressive plans to improve teacher and principal evaluation, use data to inform instructional decisions, and turn around their lowest-performing schools. In addition, both states have put in place strong laws and policies to support their reform efforts.

Applications for Phase 2 of Race to the Top are due on June 1, 2010. To help states as they prepare their proposals and to continue the nationwide dialogue on education reform, the Department of Education has made all Phase 1 applications, peer reviewers’ comments, and scores available on its website; videos of states’ presentations will be posted soon.

Oklahoma Efforts

Media outlets in most other states have made much of their state’s efforts in competing for RTTT funds.  Reporting has been less robust in Oklahoma.  But the information about the Oklahoma proposal (which, by the way, was an effort spearheaded by a 15-person commission established through Executive Order by the Governor in January) is available online  at http://www.ok.gov/recovery/Funding_Categories/Education_&_Research/ This site sets the stage for all of Oklahoma’s Recovery Act efforts, including the RTTT application:

“Recognizing that education is the key building block for the economic health and quality of life of our citizens.  Oklahoma’s Race to the Top application outlines a plan to improve student achievement by raising expectations, increasing the rigor of curriculum and facilitating effective instruction. Over 60% of the state’s school districts signed up to participate in Oklahoma’s plan, representing over 74% of the state’s schools and 80% of the student population.  Fifty percent of any funds received through this competitive process will be allocated to participating school districts to implement their part of the state reform plan.   Allocation amounts will be based on Title I formula shares.

Oklahoma’s application is strengthened by the input and support received from a broad group of stakeholders.  In addition to a steering committee of 17 high level leaders which included union representatives, business leaders, philanthropists, teachers, school administrator representatives, higher education and career tech, workgroups of more than 60 subject matter experts advised and guided the steering committee.  Governor Brad Henry has formed the Oklahoma Race to the Top Commission (http://www.sos.state.ok.us/documents/Executive/711.pdf ) to coordinate and monitor the implementation of Oklahoma’s Race to the Top plan.

Key goals include:

Have an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective principal in every school.

Raise, align and measure academic expectations through the use of Common Core Standards and provide districts with the resources and support they need to ensure that teachers can successfully implement those standards.

Develop and use data systems (P-20) to improve student learning and assure accountability and transparency at the state and local level.

Ensure that every Oklahoma school is successful and effective.

Improve instruction, collaboration and achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Key initiatives include:

Development of statewide teacher and leader effectiveness measures that include measures of student growth and other items.

Provide pool of funds for locally developed incentive compensation systems based on the results of the teacher and leader effectiveness measures.

Professional development tied to teacher and leader effectiveness.

Support and funding for the five lowest performing schools to implement aggressive turnaround strategies.

Competitive grants to districts to implement aggressive turnaround strategies.

Instructional improvement systems to enhance student learning.

Complete alignment of the state longitudinal data system with the America COMPETES Act.

Adoption of the new Common Core Standards and development of accompanying assessments.

Launching a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Coordinating Council and expand STEM summer academies.”

However, the US Department Of Education had a very critical appraisal of the application.  Their reviews, along with the reviews for all other states can be viewed here: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase1-applications/index.html

Oklahoma’s application ranked #34 of the 41 applicants with an average score of 294.6 of 500 possible points.  The summary of each of the five application reviewers looked like this:

(The Competitive Performance Priority 2: Emphasis on STEM rated Oklahoma’s committment to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and was scored as an all or nothing bonus).

The winning proposal from Delaware scored 454.6 ponts. Other states and their ranking include:

Phase II applications for RTTT are due to USDOE in June.  These efforts have a HUGE impact on math and science education on Oklahoma.  If funded, Oklahoma can see a change in direction  and a very different future for our children than the path we will be on if we are not.  Stay Tuned.

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