On Thursdays, REL-NEI highlights state-based resources, press releases, and news around the Northeast and Islands Region related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For a listing of REL Issues & Answers Reports categorized under ARRA topics and domains, click here.
Northeast States Move to Adopt Common Standards
States in the Northeast are joining their counterparts across the country in formally adopting the K–12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by August 2nd to bolster their Phase 2 Race to the Top (RTTT) applications. On July 1st, the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education adopted the new national academic standards in English language arts and mathematics, followed by the Connecticut State Board of Education on July 7th, the New Hampshire State Board of Education on July 8th, the New York State Board of Regents on July 19th, and the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 21st. Vermont and Maine state education leaders have expressed their intentions to adopt the standards. Vermont, however, is the only Northeast state that did not submit an application to the RTTT competition.
Developed jointly by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the standards are designed to provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn from kindergarten through 12th grade. They also intend to define the knowledge and skills necessary for students to graduate high school able to succeed in college courses and in workforce training programs. The final version of the standards was released June 2nd. To learn more, visit the CCSS website.
The rush to quickly adopt the common standards is partially fueled by competition for the remaining $3.4 billion in RTTT funds, which will be awarded in September. States that adopt the standards by August 2nd win extra RTTT points. Some states—including Texas, Alaska, and Virginia—have announced no intention of adopting the CCSS. To learn more, read a New York Times or Education Week article on the topic.
In other news, the Vermont Department of Education announced on July 21st that it has joined a 31-state consortium applying for a Race to the Top Assessment Grant to develop a student assessment system aligned with the new common core standards. The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)—which also includes Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire—formed in December 2009 and is hoping for as much as $160 million to develop the new assessment, which must be used by all consortia states by the 2014–15 academic year.
On July 12th, the Maine Department of Education announced it will receive $13.3 million in School Improvement Grants (SIGs) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funds will go to seven schools that have been identified as among the state’s most persistently lowest achieving. That same day, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that Massachusetts will receive $58.6 million through the SIG program to turn around its lowest achieving schools. On July 2nd, Duncan announced that Rhode Island will receive $12.5 million in SIG funds.
For more information, visit these ARRA-related websites across the Northeast and Islands Region:
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
State Recovery Sites
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/state-local-tribal-and-territorial-resources
State Education Agency Recovery Sites
Education Week’s “Schools and the Stimulus”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html
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