Let's Reverse the Damage From Race to the Top, EPI Report Says
A new report by the Economic Policy Institute finds big flaws in the Race to the Top program and questions how much the $4 billion spent to spur education improvements in the states will actually narrow achievement gaps and improve student outcomes.
The report was released today by the American Association of School Administrators and the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, a national campaign launched by the left-leaning EPI. The Race to the Top is the Obama administration's signature education-improvement tool, funded originally with $4 billion in economic-stimulus money provided by Congress in 2009. It led to a fierce competition among states, who provided supposedly ideas to improve data systems, standards and tests, low-performing schools and teacher-evaluation systems. Eleven states and D.C. shared the original $4 billion.
Now, three years later, the report found that states:
• Set goals for improving student achievement that will be nearly impossible to make. (In astory I did for EdWeek two years ago, many other experts agreed the states' Race to the Top goals would be hard to reach.)
• Have encountered numerous delays in implementing teacher-evaluation systems.
• Have focused on the tested subjects at the expense of others, particularly when it comes to
• Have encountered numerous delays in implementing teacher-evaluation systems.
• Have focused on the tested subjects at the expense of others, particularly when it comes to