Race to Top District Finalists Include New Hopefuls

The list of 61 finalists for the latest Race to the Top competition shows that the U.S. Department of Education was successful in enticing high-scoring applications from districts in rural America and in states that had not shared in the Race to the Top bounty before.

But whether the ultimate winners, which will be announced this month, will be successful in increasing personalized teaching and learning in classrooms—a key priority for this competition—is unclear.

The Education Department has not released copies of the finalists' proposals, and most districts had not posted their plans online either as of late last week, making it anyone's guess what those districts would do, collectively, with...