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"New York is making progress in our Race to the Top, but there are significant challenges.Ìý

"We are successfullyÌýimplementing several key aspects ofÌýour Race to the Top plan. We’ve adoptedÌýthe Common Core standards and areÌýdevelopingÌýcurricula, professional development resources and assessments aligned to those standards.

"We are working closely with SUNY, CUNY and private colleges and universities to connect K-12 and higher education data.Ìý Network teams are providing professional development focused on the Common Core, data-driven instruction and evidence-based observation. We developed a website, EngageNY.org, devoted to providing information and resources to help educators implement the Common Core.

"Of course, in several important areas we’ve hit significant bumps in the road.Ìý The development of data systems and agreements betweenÌýschool districts and teachers on meaningful performance evaluations are not on track.Ìý The non-approval of the data portal contract and the ongoing evaluation system litigation have slowed progress.Ìý And tragically, many of our lowest performing schools have not yet seen significant improvement.

"It’s disappointing but not discouraging.Ìý We have to get this done, and we will.Ìý The RTTT report is a reminder that the federal government will hold us to the commitments we made in our RTTT application,Ìýjust as we will hold districts and educators to the commitments they made.

"We’re making progress, but there’s still a long way to go.Ìý We knew the Race to the Top wouldn’t be easy.Ìý But our students are counting on us.Ìý They need us to get this right."