The rules for the Race to the Top competition have now been finalized! Thank you to the 1,161 people and organizations who sent us comments on our draft rules—your collective outpouring of thoughtful input prompted us to make numerous changes and improvements to the final application. But just as important, the overwhelming volume of comments demonstrates the potential for Race to the Top to propel the transformational changes that students and teachers need.

You can now find:

• The Race to the Top Application MSWord (1.0M)
• FAQs PDF (458K)
• The key policy details, summarized in the Executive Summary PDF (471K)
• Race to the Top Overview PDF (1.0M)
  These slides accompanied two ED Monthly conference calls held November 16 from 3 to 4 P.M. ET and November 24 from 3 to 4 P.M. ET.
• Understanding the Application PDF (2.4M)
  These slides were presented by Joanne Weiss on a webinar for State teams crafting their Phase I Race to the Top Applications. The webinar was held Tuesday, November 24 from 4 to 5 P.M. ET.

• Notice Inviting Applications (November 2009) PDF (4.5M)
• Notice of Final Priorities (November 2009) PDF (5.1M)

To assist States in preparing the application and to respond to questions, we will host two Technical Assistance Planning Workshops for potential applicants prior to the first application submission deadline. The first will be in Denver, Colorado on December 3, 2009. The second will be in the Washington, D.C. area on December 10, 2009. We recommend that applicants attend one of these two workshops. For those who cannot attend, transcripts of the meetings will be available on our website.

More details on the workshops, including how to register, are available here.

• A Summary of the Major Changes we made based on the comments we received PDF (376K)

• The Budget Guidance for States applying for Race to the Top PDF (44K)

• The Press Release announcing the final application

Announcement of the draft Race to the Top rules 7/24/09

• Watch highlights of the announcement
• Watch President Obama's announcement or read the transcript
• Watch Secretary Duncan's announcement or read the transcript
• Read the President's interview or the Secretary's op-ed in the Washington Post (7/09)
• Read about the vision behind Race to the Top in Education's Race to the Top Begins (Education Week, 8/2009)

Secretary Duncan's speeches on the four education reform areas that form the core of Race to the Top:

• Using data to inform instruction
• Developing and adopting world-class standards and assessments
• Turning around low-performing schools
• Great teachers and leaders

Speech by Joanne Weiss, Director of the Race to the Top Fund, at the American Diploma Project Annual Meeting (9/10/09)