Broad Foundations Award

 


High school seniors in Broward County now have access to $150,000 in new college scholarship funds, as Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) has won $150,000 in scholarships as finalist for the 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced today.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined philanthropist Eli Broad and GRAMMY® award winner and education reform activist John Legend at the Library of Congress to announce that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina won the 2011 Broad Prize, the largest education award in the country that carries with it $550,000 in college scholarships for the winning district.

The $1 million Broad (rhymes with "road") Prize is an annual award that honors the four large school districts that demonstrate the strongest student achievement and improvement while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups. The winner of the 2011 Broad Prize was selected by a bipartisan jury of seven prominent leaders from government, education, business and public service, including three former U.S. secretaries of education.

As finalist for the 2011 Broad Prize, BCPS will each receive $150,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors who graduate in 2012. The other 2011 finalists are Miami-Dade County Public Schools the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas. Broward County was a finalist in 2008 and 2009. With this year's prize, BCPS has won a total of $650,000 in Broward Prize scholarships.

"In recent years, these two Southern Florida school districts have shown more sustained progress in outperforming their peers than nearly all other large urban school districts nationwide," said Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which sponsors The Broad Prize. "Everyone involved in Broward's academic success—teachers, administrators, parents, students and the entire community—deserve our congratulations today."

Among the reasons BCPS stood out this year among the largest school districts in the country:

• Better student performance than other similar Florida districts. In 2010, Broward outperformed other Florida districts that serve students with similar family incomes in math at all school levels (elementary, middle and high school) and in middle and high school reading, according to The Broad Prize methodology.

• Progress in narrowing achievement gaps. Between 2007 and 2010, Broward narrowed achievement gaps between Hispanic and white students in math at all school levels and in elementary and middle school reading. In 2010, most Broward reading and math achievement gaps between Hispanic and white students were among the smallest in the state, according to The Broad Prize methodology. From 2007 to 2010, Broward also narrowed achievement gaps between black students and white students in middle and high school math and in elementary school reading.

• More black students reaching high academic levels. In 2010, the percentage of Broward's black students performing at the highest achievement levels (levels 4 and 5) on state assessments ranked in the top decile of district performance statewide in math and in the second decile of district performance statewide in reading when compared with other black students statewide.

• Strong support for educators in the classroom. The district prioritizes teacher development, providing teachers with a wealth of online resources to help match their instruction to individual student needs and to enable them to adjust accordingly; resources include examples of best practices and access to a range of assessments to track student progress.

Given changes in urban and suburban demographics over the last decade, The Broad Foundation narrowed the eligibility and selection requirements for The Broad Prize this year to ensure an equal comparison of large urban school districts. As a result, 75 districts that serve significant percentages of low-income and minority students were automatically eligible and considered for The Broad Prize. Districts cannot apply for or be nominated for this award.

Broward County was selected as finalist this past spring by a review board of 21 prominent education researchers, policy leaders, practitioners and executives from leading universities, national education associations, think-tanks and foundations that evaluated publicly available student performance data.

High school seniors who graduate in 2012 will be eligible for Broad Prize scholarships, which are awarded to students who demonstrate significant financial need and show a record of academic improvement during their high school career. Scholarship recipients who enroll in four-year colleges will receive up to $20,000 paid out over four years ($5,000 per year). Broad Prize scholars who enroll in two-year colleges will receive up to $5,000 scholarships paid out over two years ($2,500 per year).For more information, visit: http://www.broadprize.org/scholarship_program/overview.html.

.

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2008 BusinessCompany
All Rights Reserved