RTTT Jan. 5 Districts - FINAL

8/14/2019 RTTT Jan. 5 Districts - FINAL

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Race to the Top or Pennsylvania Schools 1

January 5, 2010 School District Update

Dear superintendents,

I am writing to update you on the status o Pennsylvanias eorts to secure up to

$400 million or our schools through the ederal Race to the Top grant competition.

In a communication sent to you in early December, I requested that you initiate

conversations in your community about Race to the Top and advise the Pennsylvania

Department o Education o your districts potential interest in signing on as a Race to

the Top participating district by submitting a letter o intent by December 18. I want to

thank you or your eorts. Nearly two-thirds o Pennsylvanias 500 districts submitted

letters o intent by the deadline. While I recognize that not all districts will choose toparticipate in the end, I am proud o Pennsylvanias education community or moving

so quickly to engage in serious conversations about this extraordinary opportunity.

It is important to note that even i you were not among those who submitted a

letter o intent, your district can still be a participating district provided you act

quickly to engage your local education stakeholders.

Pennsylvania has to le its Race to the Top

application with the U.S. Department o Education

on January 19. That time schedule will require all

o us to work together to ensure that Pennsylvania

submits the most comprehensive and competitive

application possible. We have done a tremendous

job thus ar organizing and planning under a

tight timerame, and I am condent we can make

a strong push to the nish i we continue our

impressive eorts.

For those school districts that have notied the

Pennsylvania Department o Education o your

interest in being part o the commonwealths

application, this document contains important inormation on the next steps you

need to take. For those who are still considering whether your district will take part,it is not too late to get on board, and this document will detail how you can join us in

this unprecedented opportunity.

continued


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Heres an overview o the critical next steps, which

are more ully detailed within this document:

Careul review o expectations or participatingdistricts Over the next week, you should be

reviewing the states Race to the Top goals and the

districts Memorandum o Understanding with the

school board president, local union president and

other critical stakeholders.

Memorandum o understanding (MOU)

January 13 is the deadline or each participating

district joining in Pennsylvanias Race to the Top

application to submit to PDE its memorandum o

understanding, signed by the superintendent, school board president

and local teachers union president.

Formal fling o Pennsylvanias application January 19 is the deadline or PDE to

submit the commonwealths Race to the Top application to the USDE.

Given the enthusiastic local interest we have seen thus ar in Pennsylvanias Race to

the Top eorts, I am condent our nal application will refect broad support among

educators like you as we continue to build on our collective successes and create a

world-class education system that benets every Pennsylvanian.

Gerald L. Zahorchak

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Race to the Top is an unprecedented opportunityto accelerate our academic gains and deliver on ourcommitment that all children in the commonwealth

have access to an education that prepares them tobe productive citizens and to succeed in a high-skillsglobally-competitive, knowledge-based economy.To successfully compete and win a Race to the Topaward, Pennsylvania must demonstrate that we notonly have a plan to effectively use dramatic newresources to implement school-based improvementsnever before possible on such a broad scale, butthat we are prepared to hold ourselves accountablefor the results that really matter greater studentachievement.

Pennsylvanias Race to the Top application will buildupon the strategies and practices we have been usingin our schools that have resulted in the importantand significant gains in student achievement of recentyears. While we have learned that there is no silverbullet in education reform, we know from our ownwork that when specific behaviors and practices areimplemented and aligned in a comprehensive manner,the result can be the success of every child.

Pennsylvanias Race to the Top application is builtaround six primary objectives:

Strengthening and expanding the standards-aligned system (SAS) and developing data systemscapable of supporting reform

Developing a world-class human capital pipelinefor teachers and leaders

Developing a multi-measure evaluation system forteachers and leaders

Creating a coherent approach to professionaldevelopment

Turning around the lowest performing schools

Evaluating programs to identify and spread best

practices

Our Vision or Race to the Top


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School districts that choose to participate inPennsylvanias Race to the Top application willcommit to implementing a set of activities and reforms

associated with these objectives. Most importantly,participating districts must commit to deliveringresults - significant gains in student achievement thatwill be measured and for which districts will be heldaccountable. The table below describes the levels ofstudent achievement participating districts will be

expected to reach by 2014 based on where studentachievement is today in each district. Addendum 4of this document provides expected district-specific,

district level student achievement gains. Schoolbuilding and grade level student achievement targetsare posted on the PDE Web site athttp://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/

american_recovery_and_reinvestment_act/17696/

race_to_the_top_or_pennsylvania_schools/613085.

Commitment to Raising Student Achievement

I today yourachievementlevel is*...

In 2014, yourachievementlevel will be...

Advanced >50% advanced 67-80%

35-50% advanced 56-68%

70% proicient 86-99%

60-70% proicient 82-87%

50% advanced 66-90%

20-50% advanced 53-69%

70% proicient 86-99%

50-70% proicient 79-92%


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The Next Steps or Participating Districts

Careul Review o Expectations orParticipating Districts

While the Department of Educations December 4communication provided an overview of thecommonwealths commitment to effective reforms andoutlined the expectations for participating districts,this document provides greater detail on our goals andexpectations for participating districts.

Superintendents of participating districts need to workclosely with the school board president and localteachers union president to review the states Raceto the Top goals so that these local education leadersclearly understand the commitment that is being madeand the results that are expected.

This review should go beyond simply discussing themechanics of selected reforms and should also includethe academic gains that are expected because of thereforms. The bottom line for our efforts must beraising student achievement. (See Addendum 4.)

The letters of intent recently submitted to theDepartment of Education served as a critical gaugeof local interest in Pennsylvanias Race to the Topprogram, but those districts that want to directlybenefit financially from our application still must

take steps to formally join the commonwealth asparticipating districts in our reform efforts.

As PDE informed districts in December, the Race tothe Top application not only requires Pennsylvaniato describe the initiatives and reforms that will be

implemented at the state level, it also requires detailson the activities to be implemented by:

Participating districts; and

Participating districts with turnaround schools.

All participating districts must agree to implementa set of reforms that are detailed in Addendum 1.If Pennsylvania receives a Race to the Top award,participating districts will have up to 90 days fromthe date of the award to submit a detailed, finalscope of work, along with a budget and districtimplementation plan.

Additionally, a participating district with one ormore turnaround schools must agree to select oneof four school intervention models for each of theirturnaround schools. These models are defined inthe Race to the Top guidelines and include:(1) turnaround; (2) restart; (3) school closure;or (4) transformation.


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Overview o the required elements

Turnaround Hire a new principal and replace at least 50% o the sta with highly eective teachers

Hire a Chie Turnaround Oicer to support the principal

Implement a multi-measure evaluation system

Implement a rigorous, research-based curricula

Increase learning time

Use student data to inorm and dierentiate instruction

Provide appropriate socio-emotional supports

Transormation Similar to the turnaround model without the requirement o 50% sta turnover

Districts must agree to evaluate teachers using a multi-measure evaluation tool, reward school leaders,teachers and sta who have increased student achievement and remove those who have not

Restart Convert the school or close and reopen the school under a charter school operator, charter managementorganization (CMO) or an education management organization (EMO)

Require the operator to meet most o the requirements under the turnaround model

School closure Close the school and send the students to a higher-perorming school in the LEA

Monitor the perormance o aected students

Districts with Turnaround Schools must select one o our modelsor turning around these schools

Mandatory Inormation Sessions

The requirements for participating districts are seriousand extensive. To ensure that districts are fully awareof these requirements, the superintendent of a districtthat wants to participate in Race to the Top MUSTattend one of the following:

Superintendents of districts with turnaroundschools: Attend in person one of the following twomeeting sessions. These meetings will include adetailed review of the requirements for districts withturnaround schools.

Session 1Thursday, January 7, 2010, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3475 East Waterfront Dr., Homestead, PA 15120

Session 2Friday, January 8, 2010, 1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m.PaTTAN King of Prussia200 Anderson Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406

Superintendents of all other districts considering

RTTT participation: Participate in one of thefollowing three webinar sessions. You may accessthe webinars through www.pdewebinars.org. Locatethe event entitled Race to the Top ParticipatingDistricts, click on the Webinar Description button,and then click on the Register button. Advancedregistration is not necessary.

Wednesday, January 6, 20109:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday, January 6, 20101:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 7, 20109:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.

The requirements and expectations of participatingdistricts with turnaround schools are detailed inAddendum 1. Objective 5 of Addendum 1 details theadditional requirements for school buildings that arepart of Pennsylvanias turnaround school initiative.For these districts, the final scope of work that will be

submitted to PDE 90 days after the date of a Race tothe Top award must include a process and timeline foridentifying a specific intervention model for each ofthose schools and its plan for implementation. Race tothe Top requires that these schools select one of fourintervention models:


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Memorandum o Understanding

Any district that wishes to join Pennsylvanias Raceto the Top application as a participating district mustsubmit a formal memorandum of understanding(MOU) to PDE by January 13. The final form of thismemorandum of understanding for participating

districts is attached as Addendum 2. For participatingdistricts with turnaround schools, it is attached asAddendum 3.

In order to be a participating district in PennsylvaniasRace to the Top application, this MOU must besigned by the superintendent, the local school boardpresident and the local union president.

The MOU includes a preliminary scope of work thatoutlines the specific areas of reform the district iscommitted to pursuing. For districts with turnaroundschools, this is the work described in Exhibit 1 toAddendum 3. For all other participating districts,this is the work described in detail in Exhibit 1 toAddendum 2.

Remember, MOUs must be received by PDE nolater than 5 p.m. on January 13, 2010, via e-mail,postal service or private delivery service (FedEx,UPS, etc.). No faxes, please.

MOUs can be e-mailed to [email protected] mailed to:

Jackie Achey, RTTT

PA Dept. of Education333 Market St., 10th floorHarrisburg, PA 17126-0333

The U.S. Department of Education will considerthese MOUs when measuring each states localsupport for education reforms. The greater thedepth and breadth of local support for a states Raceto the Top reform plans, the better a states chancesare of being successful in securing Race to the Topfunding.

Formal Filing o Pennsylvanias Application

The U.S. Department of Education has set a firmdeadline of Tuesday, January 19, for states to filetheir Race to the Top applications. Each participatingdistricts memorandum of understanding must beincluded in this formal state application.

Because of this, it is critically important thatyou submit your MOU to the PennsylvaniaDepartment of Education no later than January 13.There will be no extension of this deadline.

While the department is committed to working withany interested districts in having them become a partof Pennsylvanias Race to the Top application, we willnot be able to accommodate any requests to join asparticipating districts after January 13 because of thevolume of work required to finalize and submit thestates application by January 19. Moreover, becausethe time frame between January 13 and January 19includes a weekend and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Day, districts are encouraged to submit their MOUs asfar in advance of the January 13 deadline as possible.


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Revisions Made Since December 4

Dedicated Funding or Charter Schools

The Race to the Top guidelines require states to allowcharter schools to participate in Race to the Top if statelaw designates charters schools as Local EducationAgencies (LEAs). Charter schools are notLEAs underPennsylvania law. While Pennsylvania law makescharter participation optional, the commonwealthhas a strong commitment to expanding the role ofeffective charter schools. Therefore, in our Raceto the Top application, we will propose toestablish a fund of up to $5 million dedicated tosupporting bricks-and-mortar charter schools thatare, or have the potential to be, highly effectivein improving student achievement.

Specifically, bricks-and-mortar charter schools thatcurrently have Met AYP status or have the abilityto meet AYP by being in Making Progress, Warning,School Improvement 1 or School Improvement 2, willbe eligible to take advantage of the dedicated charterschool funding. Like districts, charter schools mustsubmit the required MOU by January 13 and thusmust commit to implementing all the same Race to theTop requirements as participating school districts.

Charter schools will notbe eligible to participate inthe turnaround school initiative. The funds for the

turnaround school initiative will be concentrated onlyin traditional public school buildings with the largestconcentration of struggling students.

Because qualified charter schools are eligible toreceive funding in Race to the Top, a participatingdistricts share of the Race to the Top grant will notbeincluded in a districts charter school per student ratecalculation.

The Race to the Top application process is extremelyrigorous and requires that each planned interventionbe supported by extensive research to prove

the efficacy of the approach. The strategies thatPennsylvania will employ are intended to transform thedelivery of education in school buildings. Therefore,while cyber charter schools will benefit from theresources offered to all school districts to improveteacher quality, instructional practice and studenttracking, they will not be eligible to receive Race to theTop dedicated funds for charter schools.

Standard Application or Prospective Teachers

PDE will develop a statewide online marketplace

where teaching applicants can fill out one standardapplication and easily apply for multiple positions.School and district staff will be able to view thestatewide applicant pool and search by specificrequirements as positions open. Districts that chooseto participate in Race to the Top will adopt anduse the standard application.

Proessional Development in RigorousCoursework

Districts participating in Pennsylvanias Race to theTop application are committing to dramatic increases

in student achievement overall. Delivering to studentsrigorous coursework is essential to achieving thisobjective. Districts that choose to participatein Race to the Top will provide professionaldevelopment to high school teachers inproviding high rigor coursework (e.g., AdvancedPlacement, International Baccalaureate, and dualenrollment).


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The Beneits o Being a Participating District

Each of Pennsylvanias 500 school districts willbenefit from the resources and tools PDE will makeavailable using Race to the Top grant funding, but

only participating districts will share directly in Raceto the Top funding in exchange for implementingcertain reforms.

Should Pennsylvania receive $400 million in Race tothe Top funding, at least $200 million would be sharedamong participating districts, with allocations based

upon the Title I Part A funding formula and rangingfrom hundreds of thousands of dollars for smallerdistricts to millions of dollars for larger ones.

The table below outlines the possible range of fundingavailable to participating school districts, based uponthe assumption that 150 districts will formally joinPennsylvanias application:

In addition to the funding received through Raceto the Top, school districts also will be expected toleverage other federal and state funding sourcesavailable for the same and/or complementary

reform strategies targeted in the Race to the Top. Inparticular, funds from Pennsylvanias ARRA Title ISchool Improvement allocation will be available

only to those districts with turnaround schools whichcommit to Race to the Top participation. Other fundswhich can be leveraged to support Race to the Topactivities include Pennsylvanias Accountability Block

Grant program and the Education Assistance Program.

District Title I Part A grant levels (current year only)

Number o studentsin district

Basic, Targeted,EFIG, Concentration

Basic, Targeted,EFIG only

Basic only

Greater than 10,000 $3 million to$8 million

$1 million to$4 million

$300,000 to$1 million

5,000 10,000 $1 million to$3 million

$500,000 to$1 million

$150,000 to$500,000

2,500 5,000 $500,000 to$1.5 million

$200,000 to$500,000

$100,000 to$200,000

Less than 2,500 $200,000 to

$600,000

$100,000 to

$300,000

$100,000 to

$150,000

1 Allocations are based on assumptions about the number o participating districts, the potential award amount to Pennsylvania,and the method PDE will use to distribute unds; allocation levels are preliminary and are subject to change

2 This table does not apply or Philadelphia and Pittsburgh3 Turnaround districts that receive school improvement unds are expected to supplement RTTT unding with SI unding to pay

or initiatives in turnaround schools

Potential award to districts i 150 districts participate, and PDE receives atotal RTTT award o $400 million

Estimated allocation to districts based on size and Title I allocation ormula 1,2

Turnaround

schools will

receive an

additional

$700 - $900 per

student not

included in

this table3


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Statewide Reorms Using Race To The Top Funds

Pennsylvania will use a portion of its Race to the Topaward to develop a number of state-level programs,initiatives and strategies that can be used by all

schools and districts in the commonwealth, regardlessof whether they choose to be participating districts.These programs, initiatives and strategies include:

Funding to support the expansion ofPennsylvanias regional STEM initiative;

State-funded professional development forAdvanced Placement certification;

Creation of a catalog of high-quality virtualcoursework that will be available to Pennsylvaniastudents;

Creation of a state-level charter schools office thatwill establish innovation labs to provide supportfor highly effective charter schools, help identifyand disseminate best charter school practicesand assist districts in monitoring performance ofcharter schools; and

State-funded professional development for EnglishLanguage Learner (ELL) teachers.

Pennsylvania has made tremendous strides in raisingstudent achievement in recent years, and Race tothe Top presents us with a unique opportunity to

accelerate and expand those gains. But we all mustwork together to make that happen.

Have Questions About Race to the Top?

The department stands ready to work with you in thenext several days to help Pennsylvania put togetherour strongest application.

Should you have questions or need assistance inyour local efforts to join Pennsylvanias Race to theTop application, please e-mail [email protected] orcontact one of the following PDE staff based on the

intermediate unit in which you belong: IUs 1 through 10: Jennifer Cleghorn, (717) 214-5433 IUs 11 through 20: Beth Olanoff, (717) 783-6828 IUs 21 through 29: Abby Smith, (717) 525-5988

Documents

RTTT Jan. 5 Districts - FINAL