Thank you to all the district partners who attended the Community-District Partnerships Meeting on February 27! 

Partnerships are an integral piece of our collective impact efforts. At the meeting,  our external evaluator, RTI, shared the results of its report on how partnerships are working and what can be improved, including the strengths and areas requiring deeper engagement. The full Partnerships Report is available on our website.

Our Race to the Top US Department of Education Program Officer visited from Washington, DC in late February, and we were proud to have her visit several districts to see examples of our incredible work over the last two years!  

Her visits included:  Todd Beamer High School (Federal Way) to observe SAT School Day and meet with the College & Career Readiness Assistants; Hawthorne Elementary (Seattle) to observe the Seattle Teacher Residency program; White Center Heights (Highline) to observe community partners leading after-school programs; Educare (Highline) to participate in preK teacher professional development; and, to Puget Sound ESD to meet with staff and participate in the partnerships meeting mentioned above. She was incredibly impressed with the high quality of personalized learning happening in every district. Thank you to those who opened their doors last week!

We recently had another very successful SAT School Day! SAT School Day is a unique and exciting opportunity for students across the Road Map Region to take the SAT for free, during the school day, in the familiar setting of their own school. It is funded through Race to the Top's Project 7 (Adopt the College Board College & Career Readiness Pathway), and helps ensure that every student will have the opportunity to apply to a four year college, if they choose to do so in their senior year. SAT School Day for Federal Way, Highline, Renton and Seattle was February 25. (Auburn, Kent and Tukwila have SAT School Day on April 15.)

Just prior to this year's SAT School Day, members of the Race to the Top Project 7 team (Jennie Flaming from Puget Sound ESD, as well as Marie Verhaar and Joni Hall from Federal Way Public Schools) gave a presentation, "Access to Academic Rigor for All: Scaling Success", at the Western Region College Board Forum. They shared about the impact of implementing SAT School Day, PSAT/NMSQT, and ReadiStep for all students in Federal Way Public Schools (FWPS). The success in Federal Way was then scaled to the entire Road Map region through the Race to the Top grant. Full implementation of these assessments across the region is reducing the opportunity gap by setting the expectation that all students, regardless of race, family income, or first-generation status, are capable of going to college after high school.

Thank you to Federal Way and everyone involved in Project 7 for leading the way in providing all students with access to academic rigor and more college and career options! 

The Road Map Project 2014 Results Report is now available! The Results Report is the Road Map Project's annual report card and shows data on 29 Indicators of Student Success, which are important measures related to student achievement - such as proficiency in 3rd grade reading - from cradle through college. Data in the report are often disaggregated by district, student race/ethnicity or income level to illustrate our region's challenges and progress. Please click here to read a PDF of the report.

The U.S. Department of Education featured the 2014 Results Report on its HomeRoom blog, saying "By setting common goals and being transparent about their results along the way-including what's working and where additional attention is needed-the Road Map Project team is building the shared commitment, resource alignment and accountability that it takes to get great results for their students." Please click here to read the blog post. 

Thank you for taking the time to read the Road Map Region Race to the Top grant e-newsletter! The next e-newsletter is planned for late March. Click "Join Our Mailing List" on the left to receive future e-newsletters!