Voices
"Teachers would never have put together a program like Race to the Top. Even in states that are trying to make lemonade ... you were still given a lemon."
Current Legislation
Monitoring the legislative process and advocating for laws that achieve gains for students, teachers and public education are among the cornerstones of CTA's mission.
Issues & Action
Race to the Top
-
California has been awarded a $52.6 million federal Race to the Top (RTTT) Early Learning Challenge Grant. Separate from the regular RTTT program which is now in round 3, the Early Learning Challenge Grant will help more California children get good care and a good start at learning, which we know is key to their long-term success, at school and beyond.
The grant will primarily fund local Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) being developed by Regional Leadership Consortia - voluntary groups of local First 5 commissions, county offices of education, and county governments. These Consortia will work with licensed child care programs, school districts, and child care partners. The local QRIS are meant to make information about the quality of child-care programs readily available to parents and policymakers though simple, independent, and publicly available ratings.
Over time, the QRIS are expected to help improve the availability of high-quality, linguistically and culturally appropriate service to children with high needs. These include infants and toddlers, dual-language learners, and children with disabilities and other special needs.
To win, states had to craft rating systems for their programs, appropriate standards and tests for young children, and clear expectations for what teachers should know. California was one of nine states receiving the grant.Read California Department of Education press release.
Related Content
More Info
Position Paper: Race to the Top
CTA formally submitted comment on RTTT
The RTTT proposal reveals that this administration is repeating the past mistakes of No Child Left Behind.Summary: Final RTTT Regulations
US Dept of Ed's Preamble and Major Changes
RTTT is designed to provide States incentives to implement large-scale, system-changing reforms.NEA on RTTT Final Regulations
Response from NEA President Dennis Van Roekel
"We look forward to working with the administration to ensure that its goal of true multiple measures in teacher evaluation systems is realized."
Research Briefs
Studies examining the effects of teacher education and certification on student achievement have consistently found that fully prepared and certified teachers are more effective in raising student achievement. More
0 CommentsFor any high stakes purpose associated with personnel decision making or compensation, multiple measures should be used, as all measures give a partial picture of teacher performance and are subject to error. More
0 CommentsResearch includes many cautions about the problems of basing teacher evaluations substantially on student test scores. More
0 CommentsA recent study in California found charter outcomes varied by type, with students in middle school charters scoring above and elementary charters scoring below their demographically similar counterparts. More
0 Comments
Comments
To view comments on this content you must be a registered user:
Create AccountIf you are not a member but would like to share your thoughts with us, please send us an email within the Help Center.