The Race to the Top fund is a $4 billion grant opportunity provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to support new approaches to school improvement. The funds are made available in the form of competitive grants to encourage and reward states that are creating conditions for education innovation and reform, specifically implementing ambitious plans in four education reform areas:

• Recruiting, preparing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy; and
• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction; and
• Turning around our lowest–achieving schools.

 RT3 Initiatives Implemented At Burke County High School

 Teacher Keys Evaluation System (TKES) and Leader Keys Evaluation System (LKES) allows BCHS to ensure consistency and comparability with other districts, based on a common definition of teacher and leader effectiveness.

 Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) has a statewide longitudinal data system for grades K-12th. It is designed to improve instruction by delivering student data, curriculum standards, and instructional resources to the teacher’s desktop through a district’s student information system.

 Georgia has a new system designated to rate school performance called the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI).

 Georgia Department of Education submitted an application for the waiver of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which was then approved in February of 2012. Under the new plan, measures would be expanded that would strengthen accountability by replacing current AYP calculations with a more comprehensive system that places a measurable focus not only on math and reading, but all academic areas and subgroups. CCRPI will yield an in-depth analysis of students’ college and career readiness by measuring the extent to which a school is successfully making progress in a number of key areas, such as content mastery, student attendance, and the next level of preparation.