Photo courtesy Stockvault

When it comes to school work, everyone loves a shortcut.  Whether it’s renting the movie instead of reading the book, surfing Spark notes or letting your high-tech calculator handle most of the work, virtually every student has found some way to lighten their workload and still make the grade.

But now it looks as if state departments of education want in on the game too. President Obama’s new Race to the Top initiative aims to motivate schools to improve the way they measure student success, prepare students for college and recruit and retain effective teachers. 

It may be that schools that were not meeting these standards before were being held back because the states lacked money to implement necessary changes. Or it may just be laziness. 

Daniel Willingham, author of the book Why Don’t Students Like School?, sides with the latter. He wrote in the Washington Post’s The Answer Sheet:

“Here’s the problem. States are not really committed to the reforms the administration envisions. If they were, they would have implemented them, or at least they would have been making a game attempt to do so.  When you pay people to do something, they don’t become motivated to do it. They become motivated to be able to defend that they are doing it. States will do their best to make it appear that they are complying.”

Willingham said Race to the Top is a waste of time and money, and will probably encounter the same pitfalls as No Child Left Behind. Programs like these may have the noblest of intentions, but they seem to fall short when it comes to producing genuine, enduring results.

The program operates on a 500 point system, with points awarded for completing different tasks. With $4 billion allocated to the program, and 40 states plus the District of Columbia participating, what state wouldn’t go looking for a quick way to make it look like their schools have met the criteria, even if all they’ve done is sweep problems under the rug?

Tricia Smith, Spring Intern