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August 31, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

The  U.S. Department of Education is seeking recommendations for reviewers for the  $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund competitive grant program.  This program presents an unprecedented  opportunity to support far-reaching improvement in schools across the  country.  Therefore, we hope to assemble  panels of our nation's most distinguished educators, policymakers, and scholars  to participate in the review process for this ambitious reform initiative.  I am writing to ask for your help in  identifying candidates for consideration.

Advancing  school reform is the key to America's long-term prosperity, and this is an  important moment because we have the resources in the Race to the Top Fund to dramatically  improve our nation's schools.  This historic  investment in school reform will reward and provide incentives for states that  have created the conditions for transformational change, set ambitious goals  around improving student outcomes, and developed clear and comprehensive plans  to reach those goals.  The Race to the  Top Fund focuses on four key areas of education reform:

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

Please  let us know as soon as possible and no later than September 30, 2009, if you and/or  qualified individuals you recommend would be interested in serving on a panel  to review Race to the Top Fund applications.   I encourage you to share this letter with anyone you feel is qualified.  For more information about the review process  or about applying to be on a panel, please read on.

Thank  you so much.

| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan

**Qualifications  of Reviewers**

The  Race to the Top team is seeking 50 to 80 individuals that represent wide ranges  of experience to serve on peer review panels.   The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is seeking individuals  with expertise in some, if not all, of the following areas to serve as  reviewers of applications for the Race to the Top Fund:

- Education  Policy
- Policy  implementation experience and/or legal expertise
- Education  Reform
- Deep  understanding of teaching and learning, specifically K-12
- Broad  understanding of each of the four education reform areas (standards and  assessments, teachers and school leaders, data systems, school turnaround), and  specific expertise in at least one of these areas
- Demonstrated  experience in implementing or supporting reforms that led to improved student  outcomes
- Deep  understanding of using data to inform continuous improvement at the classroom,  school, district, and/or state levels
- Understanding  of and experience with implementing student-achievement-focused reform plans at  scale in order to know what approaches have the greatest likelihood of success  at the school, district, and state levels
- Capacity  and Scale
- Knowledge  of effective operational and organizational/management infrastructures at state  and district levels (e.g., people, processes, accountability structures,  technology systems, program and grant management)
- Ability  to assess the effectiveness of leadership teams and key contributors
- Knowledge  of or experience with relationships between states and districts, as well as  successful engagement of diverse stakeholders at each level
- Application  Review and Evaluation
- Experience  participating in (as an evaluator) or managing state, federal, and/or  philanthropic grant reviews (preferably with experience in applying scoring  rubrics and specific criteria to this process)
- Experience  providing thoughtful, objective, constructive, and timely oral and written  feedback to applicants and/or organizations on successes and opportunities for  improvement

Reviewers  will work individually and on a panel with other reviewers to evaluate and  score applications.  Panels will be  unbiased and balanced according to areas of reviewers' expertise.  The Race to the Top competition will have two  phases, and reviewers may participate in one or both phases.  Reviews are anticipated to take place between  January 2010 and March 2010 for Phase 1, and between June 2010 and September  2010 for Phase 2.  Reviewers will  participate in a total of approximately 6-12 days of review, some of which may be  in Washington, DC, and some of which will be done remotely.  Reviewers will receive an honorarium for  their time.

**Application Process**

We encourage you to forward this letter to those you feel are qualified. You may send us a list of people you recommend,  and of course you may submit your own application.  To apply, please submit a cover letter and  curriculum vitae to racetothetopreview@ed.gov.  For those you recommend, please include their  name, e-mail address, phone number, organization, and title, and we will  contact them.  We strongly encourage you  to submit your applications and recommendations as soon as possible; all  applications must be submitted by September 30, 2009.

**Conflict of Interest**

Please be aware that any applicant's selection  as a peer reviewer for the Race to the Top Fund competition will include a  review for possible, apparent, and/or actual conflicts of interest.  All applicants will be required to complete a  conflict of interest questionnaire.  The  questionnaire generally seeks to obtain information about the applicant’s professional  experience(s), including any financial interest that the applicant may have in  any state's Race to the Top Fund application.   If a potential conflict of interest is identified, the Department will  consider whether the applicant can participate as a peer reviewer in full compliance  with all applicable Department policies and procedures.  In this way, the Department is able to ensure  the objective and efficient management and administration of the Race to the  Top Fund program, which ultimately ensures the integrity of the Department's  functions and the public's confidence in that integrity.