About the Race to the Top Fund

The Race to the Top Fund provides competitive grants to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform; implementing ambitious plans in the four education reform areas described in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA); and achieving significant improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring that students are prepared for success in college and careers.

Description of Funding

The ARRA provides $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund, a competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas:

Adopting internationally-benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
Recruiting, developing, retaining, and rewarding effective teachers and principals;
Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
Turning around our lowest-performing schools.

Process for Competing

The State�s application must comprehensively address each of the four education reform areas to demonstrate that the State and its participating LEAs are taking a systemic approach to education reform. The State�s application must describe how the State and participating LEAs intend to use Race to the Top and other funds to implement comprehensive and coherent policies and practices in the four education reform areas, and how these are designed to increase student achievement, reduce the achievement gap across student subgroups, and increase the rates at which students graduate from high school prepared for college and careers.

States submit applications individually, not as part of a consortium, though collaboration among states will be rewarded. In order to be eligible to apply, states must have:

Approved applications for funding under both Phase 1 and 2 of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program; and
No statutory or regulatory barriers to linking data about student growth and achievement to teachers for the purposes of teacher and principal evaluation.

Timing of Applications and Awards

The U.S. Department of Education plans to make Race to the Top grants in two phases. States that were ready to apply - including California - did so in Phase 1, by submitting applications on January 19, 2010. States that either needed more time or were unsuccessful in Phase 1 may apply in Phase 2, with applications due June 1, 2010. (Awards for Phase 2 will be announced in September.)

Race to the Top for California

California submitted an application in Phase 1, which is posted on this page (lower box on right).

To ensure California is eligible to apply and be highly competitive in their application, the legislature passed the following key pieces of legislation.

PHASE 1

List of Finalists for Phase 1

All of the States' Applications, Scores and Comments for Phase 1

California's Phase 1 Race to the Top Application
Download California�s Phase 1 Final Application.
Download California�s Phase 1 Application Appendices.