Race to the Top Is Speeding Needed Reforms

The caliber of teachers, studies show, shapes student learning more than any other in-school factor. That’s why we’re heartened to note that 17 states have retooled their approach to gauging teacher impact in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s competitive grant program, Race to the Top.

Take Colorado, which revamped how it evaluates principals and teachers: Now 50 percent of the results hinge on growth in student learning. Or consider Maryland, which also made half of a teacher’s evaluation depend on the academic progress of her students. Arizona is now crafting similar ways to assess the job done by principals and teachers, with quantitative data on student learning to account for between 33 and 50 percent of evaluations.

No surprise that all three of these states showed up on this week’s list of finalists for the next round of grants from RTTT. Moves by forward-looking states like these offer hope for low-income and minority students who most need high-impact teachers. It all adds up to striking results for RTTT.

To learn more:
Teacher Quality
ESEA Teacher Recommendations