Nearly half the states have adopted a new set of common academic standards, barely a month after their final release and, in most cases, with little opposition. As of July 9, 23 states had decided to replace their mathematics and English/language arts standards with the common set. Another flurry of adoptions is expected by Aug. 2, since the $4 billion federal Race to the Top contest gives more points to states that meet that deadline. By the end of the year, 41 states are expected to have adopted the standards, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The CCSSO and the National Governors Association (NGA) organized the Common Core State Standards Initiative and track states' adoption plans. Though many challenges remain in crafting curricula and tests that embody the aims of the new standards, the mounting adoption numbers represent a major landscape change in a short time. The NGA and the CCSSO announced the initiative in April 2009. They released the first public draft of the standards in March and the final version June 2. Once the federal incentives were offered, however, states were dogged by questions about their primary motives in adopting the standards, especially since the recession left them strapped for money. They tried to boost their chances of winning a slice of the federal reform pie by enacting laws that raised charter school caps, established performance-based teacher-evaluation systems, and embraced other measures favored by the U.S. Department of Education, which is awarding the competitive grants. Likewise, some states went out of their way to adopt the standards by Aug. 2 for maximum Race to the Top points. In more than 30 states, standards adoption is the province of state boards of education. And some boards, such as those in Georgia, Missouri, and Nevada, moved their anticipated adoptions from August to June or July. Four states--Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia--wanted to endorse the common core even though it was not completed, so they adopted it provisionally, contingent on review of the final version.