Race to the Top is the government's attempt to improve education through testing and use of test data to measure teacher performance, among other things.  If a state elects to be part of this program, they can obtain federal funding.  However because Race to the Top is so new, it’s important for teachers to learn more about it.  Most of the money appears to be designed to go to low performing schools.

Every teacher knows regardless of how much effort and time they give students, without support at home, the chances of a child reaching his or her full potential is limited.  Alfie Kohn in The Case Against Standardized Testing isolated the most important elements in a child scoring well as:  home life, poverty, parents’ education level and number of parents living at home, in most cases.  Obviously, none of these are under the control of the teacher and yet may reflect on the scores Race to the Top may use as an assessment.

Educators might find this article examining Jean Piaget's ideas on student learning, as well as those who disagree with him, of note.  It deals with the topic of when students are ready to learn and what impact their culture might have on this learning.
Wikipedia – Jean Piaget

About Race to the Top

Fact Sheet: The Race to the Top
From the White House

President Obama, Secretary Duncan Announce Race to the Top

Race to the Top Fund
Basic overview

NEA Response to Race to the Top