The ten winners in the second round of the Race to the Top competition have until November 22, 2010 to submit the individual education reform plans, called Scopes of Work (SOW), of each of their participating local education agencies (LEA) to the U.S. Department of Education. Education Week reports online that, in order to meet the deadline, state officials are requiring their LEAs to submit their SOWs to the states several weeks in advance of the deadline to allow time for revisions as necessary. Each SOW must define the LEA’s goals, timeline and budget for achieving the education reforms proposed in its state’s Race to the Top application. Under Race to the Top, education reform must include (1) improving teacher and principal effectiveness, (2) adopting improved academic standards and assessments, (3) developing or enhancing data systems to measure student growth, and (4) turning around the lowest-performing schools.
In September 2010 the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media published a paper titled Out of the Starting Blocks: Delaware and Tennessee Begin Their Race to the Top. The paper was prepared after LEAs in Delaware and Tennessee, the only two winners in the first round of the Race to the Top competition, worked through their complicated SOWs. According to the paper, officials in both states believe that the SOWs in their respective states “weren’t bold enough” and that “nothing they have done to get [Race to the Top] off the ground has proven more challenging” than the SOWs. They encourage the second round winners to provide their respective LEAs with a high level of support to write their SOWs, including arranging regional meetings and workshops. The full report, which also outlines Race to the Top implementation challenges, is available at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/state_edwatch/2010/10/race_to_the_top_plans_in_motion_in_delaware_tennessee.html
About Patsy Crawford
Patsy Crawford, Director of Legal Services, PCG Education, has over 30 years of legal experience and is responsible for providing legal and regulatory compliance support to the PCG Education management team. Since joining the firm in 1997, Patsy has worked closely with school district administrators and PCG Education managers and consultants to coordinate with state and federal Medicaid agencies to protect and improve billing programs for school districts. She has provided direct legal support to PCG Education projects in multiple states across the country.
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