Race to the Top. Delaware Report. Year 4: School Year 2013-2014. [State-Specific Summary Report]
Author: Department of Education (ED)
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Accountability,Achievement Gap,Administrator Effectiveness,Alignment (Education),Budgets,Career Readiness,Charter Schools,College Readiness,Core Curriculum,Data,Educational Assessment,Educational Change,Educational Improvement,Elementary Secondary Education,Federal Legislation,Federal Aid,Educational Legislation,Federal Programs,Formative Evaluation,Grants,Higher Education,Language Arts,Leadership Effectiveness,Literacy,Low Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Measurement Objectives,Models,Outcomes of Education,Partnerships in Education,Poverty,Principals,Professional Development,Program Effectiveness,Program Implementation,School Districts,School Effectiveness,School Turnaround,State Government,State Standards,STEM Education,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Student Characteristics,National Competency Tests

The State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Delaware's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 4 report for Phase 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2013 through September 2014. Given that Delaware and Tennessee's initial four-year grant periods ended in June and July 2014, respectively, for Phase 1 grantees, the Year 4 report includes the beginning of the no-cost extension year (Year 5). Delaware has made significant strides toward accomplishing its Race to the Top goals, though it encountered some implementation challenges and delays. Some of Delaware's accomplishments in Year 4 include, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) implementing its Race to the Top reforms with an eye towards long-term sustainability. Working toward this goal, in Year 4 the State better integrated its project management office within the State educational agency's (SEA) overall structure. The State refined its LEA performance management routines to increase SEA staff collaboration. The State also continued to investigate ways to align other federal funds with Race to the Top projects. Delaware supported its LEAs and schools through State-provided programs and resources that focused on the State's transition to college- and career-ready standards and aligned high quality assessments. Through the year, 99 of Delaware's 236 schools participated in the Common Ground for the Common Core program, a program supporting full instructional implementation of the CCSS. Delaware prepared for the transition to Smarter Balanced assessments in SY 2014-2015 by providing training and resources to help ensure that educators understood the difference between the level of rigor of the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS) and Smarter Balanced assessments. The State also developed new strategies to increase student participation and success in Advanced Placement (AP) courses and continued to pay for Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for all Delaware high school sophomores and juniors. In Year 4, Delaware continued its focus on ensuring broad use of education data to improve student achievement. Throughout Year 4, Delaware continued to analyze educator evaluation, development, placement, recruitment, and retention data, and used its findings to improve DDOE policies and practices. Some challenges for Delaware this year are DDOE supported many LEAs and schools transitioning to full instructional implementation of the CCSS through the &quot;Common Ground for the Common Core&quot; program in Year 4, but not all LEAs and schools took advantage of the voluntary program. In Year 4, it remained challenging for DDOE to meet goals related to stakeholder use of data provided through the State's longitudinal data system, and the State is still at an early phase of some projects geared toward ensuring access to effective teachers and leaders in every Delaware school. Among plans for SY 2014-2015 (Year 5), Delaware indicated that it will continue implementing its highest priority reforms and continue its use of data to drive decision-making. The State intends to continue its focus on increasing the number of college- and career-ready Delaware students by continuing statewide implementation of the PSAT and SAT and implementing initiatives to increase the number of students taking, successfully completing, and passing AP courses and exams. In Year 5, DDOE plans to link the Delaware Performance Appraisal System II (DPAS-II) and student achievement results to teacher preparation programs and publicly report teacher preparation program effectiveness data. Delaware also plans to continue providing supports to the State's lowest-achieving schools, while focusing on improving school leadership within the schools requiring intervention and support. A glossary is also provided. [For &quot;Race to the Top. Delaware Report. Year 3: School Year 2012-2013. [State-Specific Summary Report],&quot; see ED580330.]