Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education released a status update on the District of Columbia and the 11 states that won grants in the first two rounds of the Race to the Top competition (RTTT). The winning states, which collectively split $4 billion dollars, fulfilled some commitments tied to the federal competition, but many struggled with teacher evaluations and data tracking. 
• Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised four states as leaders in the RTTT initiative: Delaware, Hawai'i, North Carolina, and Tennessee. This assessment was based on the states' implementation of their winning proposals and the ensuing gains they achieved in student performance.    
• Some states did not fare as well. According to Duncan, Maryland had three main obstacles: implementing the Common Core, setting up new teacher and principal evaluations, and creating systems to track data. 
• New York, the federal government’s poster child for education reform, was commended for meeting many of its goals; however, it was pointed out that the state, which spent a little more than a third of its $696 million grant by September, is experiencing delays in the rollout of a new data portal that will monitor student and school progress.   

Dive Insight:

The RTTT progress reports are a great time to not only check in on the effectiveness of the winning proposals, but the competition in general. Seeing how states are using the collective $4 billion and if they are following through with their promises gives insight into the value of the program.