Metro Schools Makes Its Own Try for Race to the Top

Nashville is up against New York, Seattle, and Dallas in trying to pull down $40 million for its school system. The competition is part of the federal grant program known as Race to the Top.

Tennessee was one of the first recipients of Race to the Top money, in the state competition. Now Metro is trying to get money to work with students one on one.

Director Jesse Register says the district has picked ten schools—including a charter school—where teachers will create learning plans tailored to every single student.

“We use data in determining what approach we need with each student. It’s really pushing individualized instruction much further. It’s learner centered, not teacher centered.”

If the project is successful, Register says it will gradually expand to more schools in the district. Register and his team had only three months to put together a thousand-page application for Race to the Top.

More than 30 school systems across the state applied, including Clarksville, Dickson County, and Memphis. In the end, Metro was the only Tennessee district to make the cut.

The US Department of Education will announce winners by the end of the year.

Read more about Metro Schools’ Race to the Top proposal here [PDF].