Race to the Top Winners – Delaware and Tennessee Won Race

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the Race to the Top winners today. Duncan picked Delaware and Tennessee at the top. Delaware will get about $100 million, and Tennessee will get about $500 million.

Education Week posted reasons why Delaware and Tennessee won Race to the Top.

Delaware
– Unanimous participation, broad collaboration: 100% of the state’s districts and teachers signed on; 100% of the state’s students will benefit; stakeholders include governor, state education department, local districts (LEAs), unions, business community

– New state law on teacher/principal effectiveness: no educators can be rated as “effective” unless their students demonstrate satisfactory levels of growth; teachers rated as “ineffective” for two to three years can be removed from the classroom, even if they have tenure

– Financial incentives help to more equitably distribute effective talent: teacher and principals can earn transfer bonuses and up to $10,000 per year for teaching in high-need schools and subjects

– Turnarounds, or “time-limited escalation” strategy: allows an identified school to locally bargain for implementation of turnaround or transformation model; if unsuccessful, the state implements restart or closure model; school must show improve

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