Miami-Dade County Public Schools Awarded 2012 Broad Prize.
The winner of the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education is five-time finalist Miami-Dade County Public Schools, announced today.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools won the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education and will get $550,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors graduating next year.
The three finalists, Corona-Norco, Houston and Palm Beach school districts will also get $150,000 scholarships.
Miami-Dade, a five-time finalist, was selected by 11 prominent leads from government, business and public service.
The prize announcement was in New York City.
The annual prize honors four districts that have high student achievement and improvement in achievement at the same time, reducing the gap between low income and minority students.
All 75 urban school districts in the country are automatically eligible every year.
“What is encouraging about Miami-Dade is its sustainable improvement over time,” Eli Broad said in an email statement. He is the founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which awards the prize.
Miami-Dade has 350,000 students.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulated the South Florida school district.
Miami-Dade’s win comes the fifth time the district was named a finalist for The Broad Prize, bringing the district’s total prize winnings to $1.2 million in college scholarships for its students since 2006. The district was previously a finalist in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011.
“I commend the entire Miami-Dade community for establishing a district-wide culture of results that empowers teachers and students, puts more resources into helping children in the lowest-performing schools, and is helping narrow the opportunity gap,” Duncan said.
The 11-member selection jury that chose this year’s winner included:
— Henry Cisneros, former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development
— Christopher Dodd, former U.S. senator from Connecticut
— Donald Graham, chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Company
— James Hunt, Jr., former governor of North Carolina
— Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund
— Edward Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania
— Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state
— Richard Riley, former U.S. secretary of education
— Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education
— Andrew Stern, president emeritus of Service Employees International Union
— Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman and editor of U.S. News & World Report
The selection jury evaluated quantitative data on the finalists that consisted of publicly available student performance data compiled and analyzed by MPR Associates, Inc., a leading national education research consulting firm. In addition, the jury evaluated the four finalist districts’ policies and practices, compiled following site visits conducted by a team of education practitioners led by RMC Research Corporation, an education consulting company. The site visits included classroom observations and interviews with administrators, teachers, principals, parents, community leaders, school board members and union representatives.
The 2012 finalists were selected this past spring by a review board of 13 prominent education researchers, policy leaders, practitioners and executives from leading universities, education associations, think-tanks and foundations that evaluated publicly available student performance data.
As the winner of the 2012 Broad Prize, Miami-Dade will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for its high school seniors who graduate in 2013. Broad Prize scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate significant financial need and who have improved their grades during high school. 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).