Dive Summary:

• Three years in, a Broader, Bolder Approach to Education report says the Obama administration's $4 billion Race to the Top initiative has mostly failed.
• The 2009 initiative was meant to encourage state to implement far-reaching education reforms and improve student achievement, but the report says states made "unrealistic and impossible" promises in exchange for prizes too small to make good on them.
• Most importantly, it says Race to the Top hasn't addressed poverty and its related lack of opportunities; the U.S. Department of Education, however, says it sees signs of improvement and that it's too early to come to such a conclusion.

From the article:

... “No one ever doubted that change this big would be hard, and while we have worked with states to make necessary adjustments, the big picture is that states’ efforts are largely in keeping with the scope and timeline of their plans,” an Education Department spokesman said. “The department will continue to work with states to support what is working, to make necessary adjustments and to understand where we can learn and improve.” ...