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$1 Million Broad Prize for Urban Education Awarded to New York City Department of Education, Four Finalist Districts

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 September 2007, 09:01 CDT

The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) won the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the country, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced today. New York City has been a finalist for The Broad Prize for the past two years.

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings joined philanthropist Eli Broad at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., to announce the winner. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered the keynote address at a celebratory Broad Prize luncheon following the announcement, after remarks by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The $1 million Broad (rhymes with "road") Prize is an annual award that honors large urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. The money goes directly to graduating high school seniors for college scholarships.

"Nothing is more important to the future of this country than giving young people the tools to succeed," said Secretary Spellings, before opening the envelope that revealed New York City was the 2007 Broad Prize winner. "With the help of strong, innovative leadership, Broad Prize school districts are proving that if we raise our expectations, our children will rise to the challenge."

As the winner of The Broad Prize, the New York City Department of Education will receive $500,000 in college scholarships. The four finalists -- Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut, Long Beach Unified School District in California, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio -- will each receive $125,000 in college scholarships. Long Beach was the 2003 winner of The Broad Prize, and this marked the first year that a former winner returned as a finalist. Both Bridgeport and Miami-Dade are second-time finalists, while this is Northside's first year as a finalist.

"If it can be done in New York City, it can be done anywhere," said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. "The strong leadership by the mayor, the chancellor and a progressive teachers union has allowed a school system the size of New York City to dramatically improve student achievement in a relatively short period of time. Other cities can look to New York as a model of successful urban school district reform."

Among the reasons the NYCDOE stood out among large urban school districts:

Greater overall performance and improvement. In 2006, New York City outperformed other districts in New York state serving students with similar income levels in reading and math at all grade levels: elementary, middle and high school, according to The Broad Prize methodology. Between 2003 and 2006, New York City also showed greater improvement than other districts in New York state serving students with similar income levels in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology.

Greater subgroup performance and improvement. In 2006, each of New York City's three subgroups -- low-income, African-American and Hispanic students -- outperformed and showed greater improvement than their peers in similar New York state districts in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology.

Closing achievement gaps. New York City narrowed achievement gaps between African-American and Hispanic students and the state average for white students in elementary and high school reading and math. For example, between 2003 and 2006, the achievement gap in high school between Hispanic students in New York City and the state average for white students closed 14 percentage points. The same African-American-white achievement gap closed 13 percentage points.

More African-American and Hispanic students achieving at high levels. New York City increased the percentage of African-American and Hispanic students at the most advanced level of proficiency in elementary school math: a 7 percentage point increase for African-Americans and a 9 percentage point increase for Hispanic students.

For the full electronic press kit, including additional student achievement outcomes and key policies and practices that made the New York City Department of Education stand out among large urban districts, as well as details on all the finalist districts, visit www.broadprize.org.

The Broad Prize was started in 2002. Previous winners include Boston Public Schools (2006), Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia (2005), Garden Grove Unified School District in California (2004), Long Beach Unified School District in California (2003) and the Houston Independent School District (2002).

This year, 100 of the largest urban school districts in the country were eligible for The Broad Prize. The five finalists were selected by a board of 14 prominent national education experts after a rigorous review of data compiled and analyzed by MPR Associates, a leading education research consulting firm based in Berkeley, Calif. A site visit team led by SchoolWorks, an education consulting company based in Beverly, Mass., then visited each finalist district, interviewed administrators, teachers, principals, parents, community leaders, school board members and union representatives and conducted classroom observations.

This summer, a selection jury of nine prominent national leaders from government, business, industry, education and public service reviewed all resulting quantitative and qualitative data to select the winner. This year's selection jury included:

John Engler, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers and former governor of Michigan

Susan Hockfield, president, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

James B. Hunt, Jr., chairman of the board, Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and former governor of North Carolina

Shirley Ann Jackson, president, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Roderick Paige, chairman and founder, Chartwell Education Group and former U.S. secretary of education

Hugh Price, former president and chief executive officer, National Urban League

Richard W. Riley, former U.S. secretary of education and former governor of South Carolina

Andrew L. Stern, international president of Service Employees International Union

Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts. The Broad Foundation's education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation's Internet address is www.broadfoundation.org.

Note: To access newsfeed of the event, visit www.broadprize.org for satellite coordinates. Photos of the event will be available on the AP wire after 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 18.

Source: Business Wire

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