In late July, the U.S. Department of Education released a notice of draft priorities and requirements for applying for "Race to the Top" funding, $4.35 billion in competitive federal grants. This new pot of money dwarfs any previous discretionary funding from the education department, even though it constitutes the smallest piece of education stimulus funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "Race to the Top" represents the most significant source of education stimulus funding to states awarded by competition, with the vast majority of funds ($100b) already (or soon to be) awarded by formula to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This paper lays out a number of features of "Race to the Top" funding which suggest that states, including Colorado, should expect something different this time around. It then provides a description of the kind of strategies--including next steps for all parties involved and back-of-the-envelope calculations for implementing such strategies--being promoted both by Department officials as well as the many influential education reform groups that have the Department's ear. While the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) particular focus is on human capital, specifically teacher quality, it presents these strategies within the larger context of the other three reform areas identified by the department: data infrastructures, struggling schools and standards/assessments. This paper outlines seven strategies for Colorado to consider in identifying and improving teacher effectiveness: (1) Performance Management (Teacher Evaluation, Tenure and Dismissal); (2) Equitable Distribution of Educators; (3) Teacher Induction; (4) Compensation Reform; (5) Teaching in STEM Fields; (6) State-Wide Adoption of an Effective Curriculum; and (7) Educator Preparation, including Alternative Certification. Appended is: The Impact of Teachers' Advanced Degree on Student Learning (Metin Ozdemir and Wendy Stevenson). (Contains 21 footnotes.) [This report was commissioned by the Piton Foundation in collaboration with the Donnell-Kay Foundation, the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Public Education & Business Coalition.]