Race to the Top Scopes of Work - An Analysis of Tennessee Districts Plans for Using Local Race to the Top Funds | Page 3

Taking Note

of $17,592,628 for this purpose. Specifically,
33 districts allocated $6,575,980 for professional development and coaching programs for
current administrators; 17 districts allocated
$4,463,456 for professional developmen t,
internship, and mentoring programs for aspiring
administrators; and seven districts allocated
$6,533,192 for programs that focused on both
current and aspiring administrators (e.g., mentors for principals in low-performing schools).
The remaining third of expenditures was
budgeted for a variety of programs. Many of
these programs were focused on providing
materials or courses to support higher academic standards. Specifically, $8,751,301 was
allocated for formative assessments aligned
to the state’s new academic standards, with
43 districts planning to purchase a formative
assessment package from a vendor and 22 districts planning to develop assessments locally;
$2,943,761 was allocated by 46 districts for
the revision of instructional pacing guides by
local teachers; $7,563,019 was allocated by
17 districts for either creating or expanding
online and distance learning programs; and
$115,000 was allocated by three districts
for the development of new dual enrollment
courses. In addition, 59 districts allocated a
total of $18,201,884 for miscellaneous items
related to standards, including curriculum and
classroom materials and technology.
Two other topics that received significant
attention were differentiated pay plans and supports for at-risk youth. Twenty districts budgeted
a total of $16,925,457 for the development
and implementation of differentiated pay plans.
Specifically, 14 districts allocated $13,491,457
for implementing performance-based pay plans,
seven districts allocated $3,348,000 for signing bonuses, one district allocated $30,000
for a tuition reimbursement program, and two
districts allocated $56,000 to support a planning process to design a differentiated pay plan.
Additionally, 30 districts allocated $9,838,350

3

September 2010

Select Scope of Work Activities
Type of Activities

Total Funding Allocated

Number of Districts

Instructional coaches

$ 20,927,291

41

School leadership training programs

$ 17,592,628

49

Differentiated pay plans

$ 16,925,457

20

Data coaches

$ 13,927,249

36

Formative assessments

$ 8,751,301

65

Teacher induction and mentoring programs

$ 6,011,464

35

Training on Professional Learning Communities

$ 3,832,991

15

Instructional pacing guides

$ 2,943,761

46

Training on the new teacher evaluation system

$ 2,025,885

25

to launch new support programs for at-risk
youth, including activities such as tutoring,
credit recovery, and summer school programs.

Looking Ahead
Although initial scopes of work have been
approved by the U.S. Department of Education,
the state will continue to play two key roles as
districts begin implementing their proposed
plans. First, TDOE and its partners will provide
supports to districts around several of the key
activities a large number of districts are planning to undertake. For example, TDOE will be
working with a vendor to provide several technical assistance workshops to districts planning
to develop differentiated pay plans. Similarly,
SCORE is working with TDOE to explore the
possibility of creating a network of regional

leadership training programs for districts that
allocated funding to leadership training.
Second, districts will be required to periodically resubmit revised scopes of work to
TDOE for approval. The next review will occur
in December 2010 after new state test scores
have been released and will be followed by
annual scope of work reviews in June 2011,
June 2012, and June 2013. Continued RTTT
funding for individual activities will depend on
whether activities are meeting the performance
targets districts outlined in their scopes of work
and whether activities continue to be aligned
with the needs of the districts, as indicated by
state test score data. Only those activities that
meet or exceed the performance targets established in a district’s scope of work and that
are aligned with current district needs will be
funded in future years of the grant.

1

Four special state schools also submitted scopes of work including the Tennessee School for the Blind, Tennessee School for the Deaf, West Tennessee School for the Deaf, and Alvin C. York Institute.

2

The remaining 2.0% of local RTTT funds were allocated for indirect costs. Only six districts included indirect costs in their scopes of work, totaling $5,077,635 over four years.

SCORE

www.tnscore.org