Feds notice improvement by state DOE

Federal education officials have partially lifted the "high-risk" status of Hawaii’s $75 million Race to the Top grant, citing "substantial progress" in two so-called assurance areas of the state’s sweeping school reform plan.

"This is a turning point for us as we continue our strategic transformation in our public schools," Hawaii Department of Education Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yo­shi said in a statement Monday. "The progress being made gives us great hope that federal officials will acknowledge the improvements being made in the other areas of the grant."

Hawaii demonstrated progress in "standards and assessments" and in "data systems to improve instruction."

The U.S. Department of Education notified Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Hawaii education officials of the improved status in a letter dated Friday.

The U.S. DOE had placed Hawaii’s multimillion-dollar grant on "high-risk" status in December 2011, citing concerns about whether the state’s promised reforms could be met. The federal government warned at the time that Hawaii’s "unsatisfactory performance" could jeopardize its funding.

Hawaii, which was among 10 winners of Race to the Top grants in 2010, was the first Race winner to be put on such status.

Friday’s letter said federal education officials will come to Hawaii in April to conduct an on-site review, and added that the U.S. DOE "looks forward to additional implementation and progress updates" at that time.

"Getting off of high-risk status in those two assurance areas is really a tribute to our teachers and leaders, who have always put students first and have committed to getting better results for our students," Ronn Nozoe, Hawaii DOE deputy superintendent, said in a statement.

Hawaii won the Race money after pledging sweeping education reforms, including plans to turn around the lowest-performing schools and improve teacher effectiveness.

The three areas where Hawaii remains on high-risk status are system alignment and performance monitoring; turning around persistently low-achieving schools; and a "Great Teachers, Great Leaders" goal, which aims to cultivate, reward and leverage effective teaching. A major hurdle in the third area continues to be implementing a revamped teacher evaluation system that is linked to student academic growth.

While the Hawaii DOE is piloting the evaluation system in some schools, tying evaluation results to teachers’ salaries requires a collective bargaining agreement, which the state and the Hawaii State Teachers Association have been unable to secure.

The state imposed a "last, best and final" contract offer for teachers in July 2011, imposing pay cuts and higher medical premiums. The state and HSTA are now in talks for a 2013-15 contract.

The partial removal of Hawaii’s high-risk status comes on the heels of a progress report the U.S. DOE released earlier this month that highlighted improvements Hawaii made in the second year of the four-year grant.