Race to the Top grant helping R.I. complete initiatives

DEBORAH GIST, Rhode Island's commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, talks with children last year at the Smith Hill Early Childhood Learning Center in Providence following a news conference announcing grant awards. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEBORAH GIST, Rhode Island's commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, talks with children last year at the Smith Hill Early Childhood Learning Center in Providence following a news conference announcing grant awards. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

PROVIDENCE – A $75 million federal Race to the Top grant has enabled Rhode Island to complete initiatives ranging from refining teacher evaluations to implementing user-friendly data systems, according to a report issued by the education commissioner late Monday.
Deborah A. Gist, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said by the end of September, the state will have spent $71 million of the grant. The remaining $4 million is expected to be used by July of 2015.
Although the four-year grant period ends this month, the U.S. Department of Education is allowing Rhode Island to extend the grant for a year at no cost to complete some initiatives still in development, Gist said.
Accomplishments span steps to ensure educator excellence; establish standards, curriculum and assessments; implement such user-friendly data systems as the Instructional Support System, which provides teachers and educators with online support; managing performance and striving toward “greatness,” Gist said.
Among the specific accomplishments, the Rhode Island Department of Education has:
• developed and implemented the Rhode Island Model for Educator Evaluation, including providing preparation for 800 evaluators;
• provided professional development on the Common Core State Standards for more than 5,800 educators;
• designed a quarterly monitoring process to support the lowest-achieving schools;
• completed nearly all Race to the Top projects on time and within budget.
The work left to do includes launching a newly designed Instructional Support System; developing scoring and reporting systems for interim assessments; supporting districts with mini-grants for the use of data through the instructional support, educator performance support, and early warning systems; launching a statewide professional development platform and providing professional development to school-turnaround leaders and to aspiring principals, Gist said.

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