Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge

The US Department of Education has announced the 16 states that have applied for the next phase of Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge grants.These grants are used to improve and increase high quality early childhood programs, set standards for those programs, and to provide a system of evaluation of those programs that can be shared with the public. QRIS is the mechanism for these evaluations and the resulting "ratings" are being actively marketed to the public.

The new applications for RTT-ELC have been received by:
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
the District of Columbia
Georgia
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Vermont

The states winning these grants will be announced in December and awards will be from $37.5 to $75 million dollars.

If you live in one of these states, now is the time to prepare. Organize your state group/coalition for action. Begin learning about the QRIS system in your state- what is it, what are the standards, which tools are being considered, what does roll out look like? We've found that even states with existing QRIS are taking a second look and revising their systems. This makes for a workable opportunity for the Montessori community.

If there is no current Montessori group in your state, we need you to start one! Check out the how-to under Resources, or contact us on how to get started. It's worthwhile, useful, a great way to connect with other Montessori educators, and can be a lot of fun.

We'll keep you posted about specific action your group can take to protect high quality Montessori education in your state. A great starting place is to complete a state census of all Montessori programs or schools in your state (think inclusive for now). Look at the How To Do A State Census under  Resources. What seems like a daunting task really isn't if you take it one step at a time and get volunteers to help. It can actually be a great way to strengthen your Montessori community.

Continue to share your questions, needs, comments, and experience with us through your blog comments and emails.