Here's our fourth take on where dollars will flow should Ohio win Race to the Top. We categorize students according to their schools' graduation rates, thus illuminating especially what type of?high school students will be impacted by funds.
(Previously we examined the number and percent of Buckeye students to get funds, according to the?academic rating of their schools [A-F], the?performance of schools weighted by proficiency on state tests, and whether or not schools made AYP.)
As the table below illustrates, over half (55 percent) of Ohio students in district and charter high schools with a graduation rate of 90 percent or higher (the goal set by the state) will receive RttT funds. Meanwhile, among those schools with a graduation rate below 90 percent, almost a third won't get funds.
This distribution mirrors what we've observed in our other Race to the Top analyses ? among the group of students in the neediest schools (whether defined as a low academic rating, or the fact that the school didn't make AYP) there is a significant percentage who won't be funded by RttT. And, among the kids who are in schools doing seemingly well, many?will get funds.
Districts and charter schools were given the choice to sign up to RttT, or to refrain from buying in to the reforms espoused by the program. It's no incredible surprise that many districts and charters already doing fairly well signed up for the program (what administrator in his/her right mind would turn down money at this point in time?). Conversely, it makes sense that many districts and charter schools doing poorly (ones you'd think should?jump for the money) didn't, simply because of the amount of time and effort it took to apply and because of the strings attached to the money. (And it's often the schools doing poorly that lack the organization and foresight to apply for such a program.)
But one thing's for certain: if Ohio wins, those students in districts or charters with low graduation rates, poor academic ratings, and failure to make AYP are the ones who stand to benefit most from RttT's reforms. If Ohio follows through with its application promises and requires districts to include student performance data in teacher evaluations, redistribute teachers and principals to the neediest schools, or implement a number of other RttT-related provisions? it isn't the kids in decently performing schools that need those reforms the most. At the end of the day, if a full third of kids in those schools aren't reached by dollars or the reforms that go with them, Ohio will have to figure out other ways to install similar reforms statewide so that the neediest students are impacted.
In short, what have we learned after our four-part analysis of the most bold and innovative federal grant program ever to make its way to K-12 education?
In Ohio at least, it's not as comprehensive as we'd have hoped for.
-Fordham Ohio Team