The White House intends to use the first anniversary of President Obama’s election to showcase his education agenda.

Here in Washington, the hot topic on Wednesday will undoubtedly be politics, and whether Tuesday’s election results are a referendum on the president. But Mr. Obama is hoping to change the subject. He is planning a trip to Madison, Wis., to spotlight his Race to the Top competition, a new federal program that allows states to compete for $4.35 billion in education grant money.

“It’s the first anniversary of the president’s election, and we think that’s important because in this past 12-month period we have been able to meet and achieve various benchmarks, consistent with the president’s goals on education,’’ Melody Barnes, Mr. Obama’s domestic policy adviser, told reporters Tuesday in a conference call to preview the president’s trip.

The decision to highlight Race to the Top makes political sense for the president: the competition, which has drawn favorable reviews from some Republicans, is already prompting states to change their education practices – even before any money is handed out. Under the draft criteria for the competition, states must not prohibit the use of student achievement data in evaluating teacher performance.

When the administration announced the competition in July, four states – California, New York, Nevada and Wisconsin – had laws explicitly barring the linkage of student achievement data with teacher performance, said Andrew Rotherham, co-founder of Education Sector, a research organization. But California has already changed its law, and the Wisconsin legislature is contemplating doing so, which is one reason Mr. Obama is going to visit.

“What we see is quite a lot of movement and interest,’’ Ms. Barnes said. The administration expects to hand out the grants in January, she said.

(www.eduwo.com, Jainlyn&Charlotte)