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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]It's not the feds, it's a state driven initiative. 
[/quote]

That may have been true initially.  With Race to the Top requirements, it is not driven by the states any longer.[/quote]

Race to the Top provides grant money to states to distribute to school districts.   States were not required to apply for these grants.   If they felt they were doing fine as is, they were free to ignore the grants!

There are no requirements per se, for these grants, however, there was a contest for the funds, and states got more points based on certain criteria.   Adoption of Common Standards was a very small part of the overall score.

[quote]State applications for funding were scored on selection criteria worth a total of 500 points. In order of weight, the criteria were:[1]

Great Teachers and Leaders (138 total points)

Improving teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance (58 points)
Ensuring equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals (25 points)
Providing high-quality pathways for aspiring teachers and principals (21 points)
Providing effective support to teachers and principals (20 points)
Improving the effectiveness of teacher and principal preparation programs (14 points)

State Success Factors (125 total points)

Articulating State's education reform agenda and LEAs' participation in it (65 points)
Building strong statewide capacity to implement, scale up, and sustain proposed plans (30 points)
Demonstrating significant progress in raising achievement and closing gaps (30 points)

Standards and Assessments (70 total points)

[b]Developing and adopting common standards (40 points)[/b]
Supporting the transition to enhanced standards and high-quality assessments (20 points)
Developing and implementing common, high-quality assessments (10 points)

General Selection Criteria (55 total points)

[b]Ensuring successful conditions for high-performing charters and other innovative schools (40 points)[/b]
Making education funding a priority (10 points)
Demonstrating other significant reform conditions (5 points)

Turning Around the Lowest-Achieving Schools (50 total points)

[b]Turning around the lowest-achieving schools (40 points)[/b]
Intervening in the lowest-achieving schools and LEAs (10 points)

Data Systems to Support Instruction (47 total points)

Fully implementing a statewide longitudinal data system (24 points)
Using data to improve instruction (18 points)
Accessing and using State data (5 points)

In addition to the 485 possible points from the criteria above, the prioritization of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education is worth another fifteen points for a possible total of 500.[1][/quote][/quote]

So in terms of winning the Race to the Top grant funding, adopting Common Core State Standards was worth 40 points, but so was encouraging charter schools, and turning around low performing schools.   Funny how no one criticizes the push to do those things....[/quote]

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