Race to the Top Solutions
Prompted by the U.S. Department of Education’s signature Race to the Top (RTTT) program, states and school districts are implementing major reforms in multiple aspects of their education systems. Changes include enhancing standards and assessments, adopting or revamping data systems, improving educator effectiveness, and finding effective interventions with chronically low-performing schools. This reform direction is further underscored by the NCLB waiver process, which offers more flexibility while making waivers contingent on conditions that mirror many of RTTT’s components.
While aspects of the program remain controversial, there is widespread agreement on the goals of improving student achievement, closing achievement gaps and ensuring that more students succeed in college and career. Predictably, many required changes are proving challenging to implement. Involved are issues of human and technical capacity building, system re-alignment, and resource allocation, as well as needs for ongoing communication and engagement among multiple key players.
CTAC’s expertise
CTAC has extensive experience providing state boards of education, school districts and schools with technical assistance in these key areas of the Race to the Top Program:
- Data Systems to Support Instruction
- Accessing and using State data
- Using data to improve instruction
CTAC provides technical assistance to districts that want to create more robust data services to schools. Staff having access to a complete data set, so that they can mine the root causes of underperformance, is at the heart of successful school reform. CTAC through its Standard Bearer Schools process engages the school community in an in-depth data analysis during the school improvement planning process. The data analysis is conducted using multiple measures, e.g., state assessments, formative assessments, SAT scores, etc., along with an organizational assessment survey designed by CTAC to assess nine key components of school/district success: climate, school planning, teacher quality and evaluation, curriculum and instruction, assessment and accountability, principal effectiveness and support, parent involvement, student involvement, and district office support. This organizational assessment survey provides districts with the required information to develop a comprehensive turnaround plan.
Related publications
- Guide for Standard Bearer Schools: Focusing on Causes to Improve Student Achievement
- Data Rich But Information Poor
- Great Teachers and Leaders
- Improving teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance
- Providing effective support to teachers and principals
CTAC believes that student achievement improves with a balanced focus on instruction and assessment and that improving instruction and building capacity is achieved through high quality, customized professional development. Within this balanced and supportive framework teacher and principal accountability increases as student achievement is connected to their performance rating.
Related publications
- Teacher Compensation Brief on Student Learning Objectives
- The Buck Stops Here: Tying What Students Learn to What Educators Earn
- Turning Around the Lowest Achieving Schools
- Intervening in the lowest achieving schools and LEAs
- Turning around the lowest-achieving schools
- Building capacity to implement, scale up, and sustain proposed plans
CTAC was the technical provider that assisted the Charlotte M. Murkland Elementary School, Lowell Massachusetts, in its turnaround efforts. In 2010 the school was designated as one of the 35 lowest performing schools in the state and in 2011 it was declared to be the highest performing in the Commonwealth. CTAC implemented the Standard Bearer Schools improvement model which identified the root causes of the school’s underperformance. This model shaped the unprecedented turnaround of this chronically underperforming school.
Related publications
- The "Murkland Miracle"
- Underperforming schools show MCAS improvement
- Governor Patrick Celebrates Encouraging MCAS Gains At Turnaround Schools
- Guide for Standard Bearer Schools: Focusing on Causes to Improve Student Achievement
For assistance in implementing RTTT solutions, please contact CTAC at (617) 423-1444.