It’s unclear whether the $4 billion federal Race to the Top initiative had a long-term effect on student achievement, according to a report by Mathematica for the Institute of Education Sciences.
Race to the Top rewarded states for embracing policies like rigorous academic standards, revamped data systems, dramatic school turnarounds, and teacher evaluation through student test scores. Researchers found the 11 original Race to the Top states were more likely than states that didn’t get that money to use policies and practices promoted by the program in four areas: school turnarounds, rigorous standards and tests, creating conditions for charter school success, and improving educator effectiveness. There weren’t big differences between the states that got the grants and those that didn’t when it came to creating data systems to measure student achievement and build state capacity.
