Volume 25, Number 6
November/December 2009
The Real Race to the Top
To win, your district needs a strategy—not just a strategic plan
By RACHEL E. CURTIS and ELIZABETH A. CITY
The Real Race to the Top, continued
The Real Race to the Top: To win, your district needs a strategy—not just a strategic plan
The Real Race to the Top
The Obama administration’s planned investments of $100 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and an additional $4 billion in Race to the Top funds offer tremendous opportunities for school systems to focus intently on the work that will bring the greatest learning results for students. However, these new funding programs also have the potential to be just two more things (albeit big things) to which districts react haphazardly. Whether our society will reap a return on these massive investments depends on whether school systems are able to use these funds strategically.
The word
strategy is most commonly heard in school systems in the context of strategic planning, an exercise districts go through every three to five years or with the arrival of each new superintendent. The sheer number of goals, strategies, and initiatives proposed in most strategic plans actually detracts from the district’s ability to focus, and it is often unclear how implementation will lead to improved outcomes for students. As a result, most systems are unable to be precise, agile, and intentional about giving students what they most need to succeed.
This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter.
Subscribers can click here to continue reading this article.
Click here to become a subscriber.
The Obama administration’s planned investments of $100 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and an additional $4 billion in Race to the Top funds offer tremendous opportunities for school systems to focus intently on the work that will bring the greatest learning results for students. However, these new funding programs also have the potential to be just two more things (albeit big things) to which districts react haphazardly. Whether our society will reap a return on these massive investments depends on whether school systems are able to use these funds strategically.
The word strategy is most commonly heard in school systems in the context of strategic planning, an exercise districts go through every three to five years or with the arrival of each new superintendent. The sheer number of goals, strategies, and initiatives proposed in most strategic plans actually detracts from the district’s ability to focus, and it is often unclear how implementation will lead to improved outcomes for students. As a result, most systems are unable to be precise, agile, and intentional about giving students what they most need to succeed.
