Chapter 12: Race to the Top and the Future of Federal Education Policy: Sound Theory and Reflective Practice

The Race to the Top (RT3) Program was an effort by the federal government to incentivize policy changes at the state level in exchange for the possibility of additional federal funds. This chapter explores how states and districts changed policy in response to RT3. The author uses national data on policy changes as well as interviews with senior level officials in four states to examine RT3. Finally, the chapter uses RT3 as an example of shift in federal strategy to hypothesize about the future of national policy.