Education Reform Opportunities in ARRA

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The implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will help shape future federal policy.  Broad education reform efforts included in the bill, such as teacher quality and data collection, provide an opening for conversations with school leaders about linkages between afterschool and the school day.  The Race to the Top and Invest in What Works and Innovations Funds are two funding streams that the Department is using to drive education reform.

A New Day for Learning, an initiative funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation, has released new guidance with information on how state leaders, advocates and policy makers can leverage opportunities in ARRA to drive reforms in education that will boost student success while helping to create and save jobs.

A Word version of the document is also available and allows room for advocates to insert state specific information as well as logos.  Advocates are urged to customize and share this guidance with policy makers and other stakeholders in their community.

$350M Assessments/Standards Fund:
A $350 million fund has been set aside to help develop rigorous assessments that will measure whether students are meeting the new Common Core Standards being developed by states (led by the National Governors Association and the Council of State Chief State School Officers).  The U. S. Department of Education stipulates that assessments should measure whether students are mastering complex materials and can apply their knowledge in ways that show that they are ready for college and careers.  The new assessments and standards will accomplish the following:

• Ensure that students are ready to succeed in college or in the workplace
• Reduce the number of topics covered in classroom curriculums and formulate standards around essential knowledge and skills
• Standardize core instructions and assignments for all students and focus on deepening understanding in those subjects..

What is Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Saying?  A greater focus will be placed on students mastering and applying knowledge learned in the classroom.  The experiential learning opportunities that afterschool programs provide can play a vital role to help deepen students’ understanding and mastery of key subjects.  Afterschool advocates have an opportunity to weigh in on the criteria used to formulate the assessments tools that will help measure academic progress. 

Comprehensive Data System:
Secretary Duncan has called for a comprehensive data system to help ensure that students are on track to graduate high school and succeed in college.  The data system would help link school data to workforce data and show which interventions measures—from early learning to extra curricular activities—that work. 

Secretary Duncan cited the “ten elements” developed by the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), including integration of “extra curricular activities” with other school data as example of a good data system. 

What is Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Saying?  The data system will track not only classroom instruction but also intervention measures outside of the classroom that help boost achievement.  The Secretary acknowledges for example, the need to capture the effects of early learning programs, extra-curricular activities and other social support services that make students successful.