The U.S. Department of Education announced that they will fund a third round of Race to the Top grants. This round will only be open to the nine states that were finalists in Phase II, but did not receive any Phase II funds – Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.  In Phase III, applicants are required to allocate a percentage of their…

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Looking for new high school-related resources?  Here are some highlights that other organizations have recently released:

Summary of Funded Race to the Top Applications: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Activities in Eleven States and the District of Columbia
The Center on Instruction’s March report describes the STEM activities of eleven states funded under Race to the Top, including planned high school reforms.  The authors summarize the state plans…

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In an earlier post, we discussed virtual high schools (VHSs), highlighting examples from Florida and North Carolina. We have since learned that an increasing number of states have plans to use VHSs as a strategy to maximize limited resources, as evidenced by inclusion of VHSs in Race to the Top (RTTT) and School Improvement Grant (SIG) applications. Rural SIG schools and districts looking to expand their course catalogues are…

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U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced two winning grant applications to fund assessments based on the Common Core State Standards. The grant requests, totaling approximately $330 million, are part of the Race to the Top competition and will be awarded to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) – a coalition of 26 states and the District of Columbia– and the SMARTER…

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Race to the Top (RTTT) round two award winners were released yesterday, and the news is good for the nine state winners and the District of Columbia.  Though we’ve devoted previous blogs to round two finalists’ applications, we’re now taking a closer look at high school-specific proposals in the winning states.  Though many states have exciting and successful high school initiatives already up and running, we are primarily highlighting…

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This is the final of a four-part series on the Race to the Top (RTTT) Round Two finalists.[1] Below, we highlight examples of high school strategies described in seven of the RTTT finalists’ proposals.[2]

New Jersey will prepare more students for advanced study and careers in mathematics and science by building broader STEM-based programs that teach skills inside and out of the

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This is the third in a four-part series on the Race to the Top (RTTT) Round Two finalists. Below, we highlight examples of high school strategies described in six of the RTTT finalists’ proposals.[1]

Hawaii plans make their “college- and career-ready,” STEM-aligned Recognition Diploma mandatory for all students entering high school in SY2014-15. Additionally, a new data system will include a college and career access web portal that

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