The Evidence on Race to the Top

Are the naysayers right?

By Douglas N. Harris

Who would have imagined that a Democratic president with broad support from teachers’ unions and education scholars would devise a policy as distasteful to his supporters as the No Child Left Behind Act? Yet President Barack Obama appears to have done just that with the Race to the Top initiative.

In addition to being widespread and heated, the criticism of Race to the Top has focused on an unusual topic: research. The National Education Association wrote in response to the grant competition’s regulations that “we encourage the administration to base its recommendations on research and on what works.” Scholars have been even more dismissive. The education historian Diane Ravitch writes: “What is extraordinary about these regulations is that they have no credible basis in research. They just happen to be the programs and approaches favored by the people in power.” Others point to the apparent hypocrisy of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s claims to be a data-driven reformer.

What has caused the firestorm? To receive Race to the Top funds, states must make “assurances” that they will take four steps: adopt common standards and high-quality assessments; develop and use state longitudinal-data systems; improve evaluations of teachers and principals (incorporating student-achievement scores) and use these to inform high-stakes decisions; and turn around failing schools using,...