The race is on: states are making changes in their education programs as part of applying for billions in federal grants.

• Author: Weiss, Suzanne
• Position: Race to the Top fund

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Competition among states for a piece of the multi-billion federal Race to the Top fund has spawned a wide range of reaction and action--from handwringing to soul searching to partnership building, and from relatively minor policy changes to groundbreaking legislative initiatives.

Forty states and the District of Columbia are awaiting the decision of judging panels established by the U.S. Department of Education to review states' applications for the $4.35 billlion in Race to the Top money, which will be awarded in two rounds.

The first round of grant awards--and only a handful of states are expected to receive them--will be announced this month. Applications for the second round are due June 1, with the announcement of winners at the end of September. States that apply for the first round of funding but are not awarded grants may reapply for funding in the second round, together with those states applying for the first time in the second round.

States will be given points for what they plan to do or what they have already accomplished on four fronts: adopting world-class standards in language arts, math and other subjects; tracking each student's academic growth from year to year; improving the performance of teachers and principals; and turning around chronically low-performing schools.

The Race to the Top competition is designed to provide incentives to states to trail-blaze and develop effective reforms that can be replicated in schools and districts across the country. The Obama administration has positioned change and innovation in public education as essential to building "a new foundation for growth and prosperity"--and equally important as reforms in health insurance, energy and the financial sector.

"This competition ... will be based on a simple principle--whether a state is ready to do what works," said President Barack Obama at the unveiling of the competition last year. "We will use the best data available to determine whether a state can meet a few key benchmarks for reform, and states that outperform the rest will be rewarded with a grant."

The president described Race to the Top as "one of the largest investments in education reform in American history. And rather than divvying it up and handing it out, we are letting states and school districts compete for it."

To some observers, however, the Race to the Top funds are "a carrot that feels more like a stick," in the words of Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. "The Obama administration could have asked states for their best ideas for achieving big objectives. Instead, it has published a list of 19 of its best ideas few of which are truly 'evidence-based,' regardless of what President...