Round 1 of the Race to the Top had only two winners, Delaware and Tennessee. But states that did not win can adjust their applications and reapply for Round 2 funding. Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), The Education Equality Project (EEP) and Education Reform Now have gone through each finalist's application to analyze how it might score higher in Round 2. You can check out their state-by-state analysis here.

The co-chairs of the Education Equality Project recently wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post about why RT3 and similar school reform efforts are so important even in the context of the significant challenges facing our children outside of school. "Plenty of evidence demonstrates that schools can make an enormous difference despite the challenges presented by poverty and family background," they write.

At an event on Thursday, Secretary Duncan and Jim Shelton discussed the details of "i3," the $650 million Investing in Innovation fund that is part of ARRA, the gigantic stimulus bill.

In some ways, i3 is like the Race to the Top Fund, but for districts and charter school networks. And it may have even fewer strings (we won't know for sure until the guidance is published). Duncan and Shelton (formerly of the Gates Foundation, now tasked with running i3) discussed the way the money would be doled out starting in early 2010:

 

Our basic operating premise is that grants for proven programs should be larger than those for promising but largely untested programs. Grants will fall into three categories:

• First, Pure Innovation grants of up to about $5 million dollars for promising ideas that should be tried.
• Second, Strategic Investment grants of up to roughly $30 million for programs that need to build a research base or organizational capacity to succeed at a larger scale.
• And finally, Grow What Works grants that will go as high as $50 million for proven programs that are ready to grow and expand.

Check out the full text of Duncan's remarks here.