School reform engine may be losing momentum
- Stateline.org
LOUISVILLE, KY. This has been a busy year for education reformers. Primed by billions in stimulus funding, states spent much of 2010 scrambling to complete ambitious school improvement plans outlined in detail in hundreds of pages of applications for federal " Race to the Top" funding.
Many have adopted policies that are central to the Obama administration's education agenda, such as changing the ways teachers are evaluated, giving more latitude to charter schools, revising student tracking systems and putting an emphasis on turning around low-performing schools. As part of a separate but related effort, 41 states have adopted a standard math and English curriculum endorsed by federal officials.
But now, as the year ends, the reform enthusiasm seems to have cooled. Out of 46 applications received, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants to only 11 states and the District of Columbia. The looming end of stimulus
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