Georgia DOE asks Georgia Partnership to Review its Efforts
MEDIA CONTACT: Jon Rogers, GaDOE
Race to the Top Communications Office, (404) 463-1522, jonrogers@gadoe.org
Bill
Maddox, GA Partnership for Excellence in Education, (404) 376-9055, bmaddox@gpee.org
December
17, 2014 – Georgia
has spent the past four years implementing the Race to the Top $400 million
grant to improve educational outcomes for students. The scope and scale
of the work undertaken was massive. There were 31 major projects and each
project consisted of many activities.
The goal of
the grant was to reform standards, assessments, data systems, teacher
effectiveness systems, certification, educator preparation programs,
professional learning, lowest achieving schools and more. Although work
remains on several requirements, as of this past September, all the reforms
were in place.
The Georgia
Department of Education asked the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in
Education to conduct an independent, objective review of its work. The
result is the 50-page report Race to the Top – Georgia’s Vision for
Educational Excellence. It is a thorough review of the work conducted
during the grant period and of the achievements gained, as well as showing
where Georgia goes from here to sustain the progress.
Dr. Susan
Andrews, Georgia Department of Education Deputy Superintendent for Race to the
Top, is proud of the work the Race to the Top team has done these last four
years. "The seven agencies that have participated in the Initiatives
funded by the Race to the Top grant have done some incredible work as described
in this report,” she explained. “The students in Georgia's public schools
will benefit from higher standards, more rigorous assessments and the
identification of our most effective teachers and leaders.” She emphasized,
“The results of these efforts will be realized for years to come."
Both Andrews
and Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education President Dr. Steve
Dolinger agree that although so much has been accomplished more work
remains. As Dolinger explained, “Georgia is moving forward, but we have
to take advantage of this momentum if we hope to make lasting improvements and
remain competitive in the global marketplace.”
Dolinger
added his own perspective of the value of the work over the past four years
conducted by the Race to the Top Implementation Team. “It is my belief
because of this effort, Georgia is well positioned to undertake new and
innovative ways to improve teaching and learning.”
The report is
available on the Georgia
Partnership’s web site and the Georgia
Department of Education’s Race to the Top webpage.
About
Race to the Top:
Race to the
Top is part of a competitive grant from the US Dept. of Education to encourage
and reward states that are creating conditions for education innovation and
reform, specifically implementing ambitious plans in four education reform
areas: recruiting, preparing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and
principals, especially where they are needed most; adopting standards and
assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and
to compete in the global economy; building data systems that measure student
growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can
improve instruction; and turning around our lowest–achieving schools.
More
information is available at Georgia
Department of Education’s Race to the Top webpage.
About
Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education:
Founded in
1992 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Economic Developers
Association, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education consists of
business, education, community and government leaders who share a vision of
improved education. An independent organization, the Partnership is
working to be Georgia’s foremost change agent in education. The
non-partisan, non-profit Georgia Partnership takes lead roles in efforts to
impact education policies and practices for the improvement of student
achievement.
More
information is available at www.gpee.org.
