Summary
The New Teacher Project has compiled a comprehensive summary of draft criteria for federal Race to the Top funds, announced at the end of July. Along with detailed descriptions of the application timeline and what the federal Department of Education will be looking for both in terms of “past state reform conditions” as well as future reform plans, the document rates how well-positioned the 50 states are to compete for the funds.

CT Context
Although Connecticut is not one of the handful of states with laws on its books that would render it ineligible to apply for Race to the Top funds, it lags significantly behind in meeting a number of the “past state reform conditions” that would allow for a competitive application. For instance, Connecticut’s longitudinal data system does not yet link teachers with student achievement outcomes—a centerpiece of the competition guidelines. Likewise, Connecticut does not yet have an alternative certification pathway for school leaders, nor does its charter school funding framework provide equal funding with other types of public schools. States like Louisiana and Florida, considered highly competitive, are well on their way to qualifying for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants because of their progress in implementing these “reform conditions.” For the state to win, it must also bring itself up to speed in a number of critical policy areas before the final round application deadline in June of 2010.

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Summary
With 47 states joining the Common Core State Standards Initiative and national policy wonks abuzz about national standards, this report sheds light on how other countries use common standards to improve national public education, putting the conversation in an international context. After examining national standards in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea, the researchers recommend a system of national standards for grades 4, 8, and 12 with assessments every other year. Germany provides a recent lesson in how to create national standards across state governments within a federal system, having adopted national standards as a result of the embarrassment of scoring poorly in international tests in 1997.

CT Context
One of the most prominent arguments against national standards likely sounds familiar to many Connecticut residents: the concern that national standards will erode local control of education. In a state with 166 school districts, local control is a priority for many towns. But researchers found that in France, Russia, India, the Netherlands, and Brazil, national standards leave plenty of room for local control of instructional materials and even teaching methods, while ensuring national consistency in other areas such as assessment. It will also provide a boost in ensuring students’ competitiveness in an increasingly “flat” world by helping benchmark Connecticut students against their peers.

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Summary
The mission of public school districts has evolved in the last two decades, from an old-style model where learning was left to chance to the new standards-based model, where schools are evaluated on whether or not students have mastered their subjects. Districts like New York, New Orleans, and Hartford must now manage a “portfolio” of schools, determining how to hold schools accountable for performance, close underperforming schools, and open new high-performing schools. This report is like a blueprint for a portfolio district, offering suggestions about how to set expectations for schools, invest in new school options, and create partnerships for support services.

CT Context
Over the last two years, Hartford’s All-Choice Plan has seen promising student achievement results, and New Haven is looking to launch a similar portfolio model. This clear, step-by-step description of the challenges and benefits of this new type of school system is a helpful primer for Connecticut residents interested in creating a virtuous cycle of school change in our other large districts.

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Summary
The U.S. Department of Education’s meta-study of online learning from 1996 to 2008 shows some surprising results: students in online learning programs perform better than students in traditional face-to-face classrooms. Researchers caution that few rigorous comparisons of face-to-face and online learning in K-12 classrooms exist, but in the studies that do exist, they found statistically significant positive effects for online learning.

CT Context
As Connecticut education reformers look for creative ways to close our largest-in-the-nation achievement gap, online learning could very well be part of the solution. With encouraging student achievement results like the findings in this study, online learning deserves a serious look as one alternative to traditional diploma pathways for high school or rural students.

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Summary
Researchers at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service investigated the effects of the dropout rate in Texas public schools. Amid confusion about how to accurately calculate true graduation rates, they found a range of possible dropout rates for the state and then determined the impact of two possibilities. They discovered that on the high end, dropouts cost the state up to $9.6 billion in lost wages, lost sales tax revenue, and welfare payments.

CT Context
Connecticut is even further behind than Texas in its efforts to create a longitudinal data system, meaning that we also cannot provide the public with basic facts such as what percentage of high school students graduate in four years with a diploma. Given that high school graduation translates into much higher earning potential–and given that Connecticut’s sluggish economy is in need of the economic boost better educated citizens provide–the right place to start is ensuring good data about graduation rates so we can make decisions about how best to get a return on our public investment.

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