Race to the Top Round 2 Update

37 states plus the District of Columbia have notified the U.S. Department of Education (USED) that they're planning to compete in the second round of Race to the Top, in which $3.4 billion in economic-stimulus funds are still available. States that did not file their intent to apply with the Department by the deadline are: Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. Delaware and Tennessee, as Round 1 winners, also did not file intents to apply.

Filing an intent to apply does not mean that states must apply, and not filing an intent does not mean that states cannot apply.  In the first round, several states that did not signal their intent to apply ended up applying.  

Applications for Phase 2 are due on June 1, 2010. USED offers a variety of resources to help States in developing their applications, including an updated FAQ and all peer reviewers' comments and scores on Phase 1 applications. The resources can be found on the USED Web site.

Slides from the Technical Assistance Planning Workshop for potential applicants to Phase 2 of the Race to the Top grant competition workshop that was held in Minneapolis in April are posted in PDF format here. At the workshop, leaders from Delaware and Tennessee discussed their reform agenda, implementation plans and approaches to building statewide collaboration.

Last fall, Achieve prepared Race to the Top: Accelerating College and Career Readiness guides to help state leaders take advantage of this exceptional competition.