We may not know who the Race to the Top peer reviewers are, but the Education Department has provided some basic demographic information on this jury that will help dole out the first round of $4 billion in competitive grants.
Not that these tidbits will satisfy the critics of the department’s decision to keep the panelists’ identities secret, but they’re worth sharing nonetheless.
The crew of 58 looks like this:
- 15 are former principals, 30 are former K-12 teachers
- 4 are attorneys
- 35 have doctoral degrees
- 12 have served on state or local boards of education
- 15 are former state or district superintendents
- 25 are from the Northeast, 13 from the West, 13 from the South, and seven from the Midwest
- 32 are women, and 26 are men
So that seems to indicate that the composite picture of the average peer reviewer is a former female teacher from the Northeast who has a PhD.