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$2 Million 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education Awarded to Brownsville Independent School District, Four Finalist DistrictsWelcome to this special edition of Eye on the Prize: The Road to Broad. The news is official—Brownsville Independent School District is the winner of the 2008 Broad Prize, the largest education prize in the country awarded to the most improved urban school district. Former U.S. Secretaries of Education Richard Riley and Roderick Paige joined The Broad Foundation's Eli Broad to announce the winner at an event held today at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw delivered the keynote address at a celebratory luncheon following the announcement.
Brownsville, located at the southern-most tip of Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border, serves one of the poorest urban populations in America—with 94 percent of its students qualifying for free and reduced-priced school lunch. The $2 million prize goes directly to graduating high school seniors in the winning and four finalist districts for college scholarships. As the winner of The Broad Prize, the Brownsville Independent School District will receive $1 million in college scholarships. The four finalists—Aldine Independent School District, Texas; Broward County Public Schools, Fla.; Long Beach Unified School District in California and Miami-Dade County Public Schools—will each receive $250,000 in college scholarships. Click on the links below to learn more about what makes this year's Broad Prize finalist districts stand out among their peers. |  Overheard at the
"This will lift our district to the highest levels, but let me pay tribute to those who deserve it—our students, parents, teachers, staff and community." |
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Brownsville Independent School District, Texas
Although 94 percent of the district's students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, Brownsville's commitment to excellence, meeting the needs of English-learners and providing a wealth of enrichment opportunities has propelled the district to some of the highest performance levels in Texas. In 2007, Hispanic and low-income students in this first-time Broad Prize finalist district achieved higher average proficiency rates than their statewide counterparts at all grade levels in math, and in reading in the elementary grades, according to The Broad Prize methodology. For example, 87 percent of Brownsville's Hispanic students scored proficient on state standardized math assessments in the elementary grades, compared to 82 percent statewide. Eighty-six percent of students in Brownsville who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch scored proficient in elementary school math in 2007, compared to 80 percent statewide. Today, eyes across the nation are focused on whether U.S. immigration policy will result in the construction of a concrete wall in Southern Texas between Brownsville and Mexico. The school district's policies, however, stand in sharp contrast, as administrators and teachers work collectively to break down traditional barriers to opportunity and embrace the rich cultural diversity among Brownsville's students, many of whom are first-generation immigrants. ¿Como se dice "success"?
"English was so hard for him," remembers his former Villa Nueva Elementary School principal, Jose Martinez. "Daniel had never spoken a word of anything other than Spanish. He had never even been to school." It's a common story in Brownsville, where more than 2,000 students cross the border each year and begin their schooling. Yet while far too many immigrant students in other American districts today fall through the cracks, Daniel and many other Brownsville students have beaten the odds. In 2007, Daniel graduated as high school valedictorian and was accepted to Harvard University. In Brownsville, where more than 40 percent of the student population is designated as English language learners, helping them excel in school and in life is a daily goal. To closely track student progress and to decide which students to place into English language learner programs, which to keep in and which to have exit, Brownsville has established a language proficiency committee with the sole responsibility of ensuring that every student masters English. The committee, composed of teachers and school and district leaders, maintains records for each child and tracks their grades and reading and math assessment results each grading period from the moment they enter the bilingual program until two years after they have exited, to make sure they don't fall behind. Any student who does not excel in English may be immediately re-enrolled in the bilingual program or receive additional help as needed. The district offers intensive English-language instruction in every grade and in all schools. In the early grades, the district offers bilingual instruction in English and Spanish, as well as dual-immersion programs in four of the district's 33 elementary schools, where both English language learners and English speakers learn in Spanish and English. In traditional classrooms—in which instruction is conducted solely in English—all teachers are trained in "sheltered" English instruction, strategies designed to help English language learners learn English while simultaneously mastering academic subject matter. The remarkable result: by the end of the third grade, 80 percent of Brownsville students are proficient in English. By the fourth grade, the majority of English language learners have left ELL programs. Programs like these are paying off for Brownsville students—particularly for Hispanic and low-income students, who are outperforming their peers in similar Texas districts in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. Advanced Placement course participation by Hispanic students rose nine percentage points in Brownsville between 2004 and 2007; and the percentage of Hispanic students taking the SAT also increased by nine points during the same period. Contact: Aldine Independent School District, Texas
Yet students throughout Aldine aren't just surrounded by visible reminders of high expectations for college attendance; they are working toward them every day. In this three-time Broad Prize finalist district—located on the northern side of Texas' largest city—leaders have carefully mapped the district's curriculum to ensure that today's college and work requirements inform student learning from first grade through high school. "We want every single one of our students to have the opportunity to go to college," says Carolyn Milton, middle school testing coordinator and president of the Texas State Teachers Association. "Even if they would rather take a job right out of high school, they should be able to make that choice themselves, instead of having it made for them." Aldine educators at all levels are helping students meet this goal. In 2007, Aldine students outperformed their peers in other Texas districts in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. In middle school reading, for example, 89 percent of Aldine's Hispanic students scored proficient on state tests in 2006, compared to 78 percent statewide. In elementary math, 87 percent of Aldine's low-income students scored proficient, compared to 80 percent statewide. One Team, One Set of Goals
A central piece of this accountability system is the balanced scorecard—a strategic organizational planning and management practice frequently found in the business sector—which Aldine uses to focus every district employee on common goals and to monitor school, department and district-wide progress. For example, every quarter, principals set school scorecard goals for attendance, student performance, staff development and parental involvement. The scorecard then enables them to monitor progress regularly and guides their day-to-day decision-making, allowing them to redirect staff, resources and activities to serve the school's main goals when they veer off track. Scorecards at the school level roll up into a scorecard for each of the district's five geographic regions, enabling area superintendents to keep track of trends and similarly redirect efforts when necessary. At the district level, data from the school and scorecards combine to enable directors and area superintendents who oversee curriculum, human resources, finance and other critical departments to track quarterly progress toward district-wide performance targets. Math curriculum directors, for example, can use their scorecards to track trends on interim math assessments across all schools, and inform adjustments to the course content that will support progress toward 100 percent mastery. The district's strategic plan sets out broad principles and goals for every employee and student in the district. But it is the scorecard—a dynamic tool that is updated, adjusted and monitored continuously throughout the year—that empowers Aldine's leaders to link those goals to current performance and adjust their strategies on an ongoing basis to maximize student learning. Aldine's focus on strategic performance, together with a data-driven culture and a commitment to students' college and career success, has earned it a spot among the nation's most successful urban school districts for the third time in five years. Contact: Broward County Public Schools, Fla.
"What is the formula for the circumference of a circle?" asks teacher Alisa Clifton, taking a moment to point out that the "π" at issue should not be confused with the region's favorite dessert: key lime pie. In response, a student at the front of the classroom selects an oversized red marker and swiftly writes "C = 2r x π" on an interactive whiteboard—a large screen that allows students to create and modify images from a nearby computer. Students use the whiteboard to manipulate numbers, pictures and charts at the front of the room with a pen or the touch of a finger. "What do you think?" Clifton polls the class. "Power clap!" the students shout in unison and clap their hands twice in praise for their classmate. Clifton has harnessed the early-morning energy of these Broward County Public Schools students by engaging them with the whiteboard—just one example of cutting-edge educational technology in classrooms throughout the district. In this first-time Broad Prize finalist district—the sixth largest district in the nation—integrated technology is paying off especially for African-American and Hispanic students, who are achieving at higher levels than their state-wide counterparts in reading and math at all grade levels. In 2007, 75 percent of Hispanic students in Broward elementary schools achieved proficiency on state standardized tests, compared to 63 percent of the state's Hispanic elementary school students. Instructional Leadership at All Levels
"Ms. Krecker is one of our very best," says Nitti, who notes that the six-year teacher was one of the first at Orange Brook to receive a National Board certification—the highest American recognition of professional teaching excellence. "I grabbed her up while she was student teaching, and we've all been very fortunate that she decided to stay." Broward County has reason to be proud of teachers like Krecker. The district has more Nationally Board-certified teachers than any other school district in America. In 2007, more than 6 percent of Broward County teachers were National Board certified. Nearly a third of them work in the district's Title I schools. Across the district, Broward's National Board-certified teachers have become central to efforts to strengthen teaching across classrooms. They serve as teacher-leaders, mentoring and working alongside their less-experienced colleagues to help them improve their techniques. For example, Krecker recently established a study group to help newer Orange Brook teachers also earn their national certification. "She gathers all of our teachers together at lunch, during their planning periods or after school and helps them work on their National Board portfolios and prepare for their exams," says Nitti. In addition to assistance from their National Board-certified colleagues, teachers also receive instructional support from formal and informal mentors, including school team leaders, department chairs and Broward County "recognized teachers"—those who are qualified for National Board certification but ineligible because their content areas are not sponsored. And teacher-leaders have an extra incentive to step up and help others in Broward: annual bonuses up to $10,000 or 20 percent of a teacher's base salary are provided for those who mentor new teachers. Contact: Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.
Jenna and her high school classmates in Long Beach, Calif. have been using an online business simulation tool to create virtual companies and transact business with other virtual enterprises run by students around the world. Courses on virtual enterprise like this are just one example of the rich, hands-on educational content offered to students in Long Beach Unified School District—the only school district in the country that has won The Broad Prize and then been a two-time finalist after its win. In 2007, Long Beach students once again outperformed their peers in similar California districts in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. The district's low-income, African-American and Hispanic students also outperformed their peers in similar districts in reading and math at all grade levels. For example, in 2006, 35 percent of Hispanic students in Long Beach scored proficient on state standardized assessments in the elementary grades, compared to 30 percent statewide. Thirty-four percent of low-income students in Long Beach scored proficient in elementary school math in 2007, compared to 29 percent statewide. Upward and Onward
Every Long Beach 10th grader is able to gauge whether he or she is prepared for higher education because the district requires—and subsidizes—each to take the PSAT. In the 11th grade, each student learns from the district whether he or she is ready for California State University enrollment requirements. School and district leaders work with students to ensure that their course schedules in the senior year include rigorous courses to prepare students for the California State University entrance exam and college coursework in math and English. Once they reach their senior year, all Long Beach graduates who meet minimum college prep requirements are guaranteed admission to California State University at Long Beach, thanks to a new district-university partnership starting this year. "The district has worked very closely with Cal State over the years to ensure that what we are teaching our students is aligned with what they will be learning in college," says Michelle Kwansai, one of the district's college and career advisors. "I think they feel confident that our students will be able to do the work once they get there." Long Beach high school students can also choose from dozens of AP courses that provide transferrable credits for college—everything from computer science to the performing arts—and many more have done so in recent years. Between 2003 and 2007, Long Beach student enrollment in AP courses increased by 58 percent. African-American students showed a 101 percent increase. Hispanic student participation rose 76 percent. Through college readiness efforts and a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum beginning in elementary school, Long Beach has consistently increased Hispanic and African-American graduation rates and since 2003, has achieved an incredible 34 percent rise in overall college attendance. As Tiffany Alexander, a history teacher at Millikan High School, says, "our goal from the time they start until they graduate is to ensure that all of our students in Long Beach can not only go to college, but that they can earn a degree and be successful in life." Contact: Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Fla.
As a side door to the conference room opens abruptly, the district's director of assessment, research and data analysis, bursts in. "The FCAT writing results came in!" she says, referring to the district's scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test—results that many districts either highly anticipate or dread. The leaders quickly crowd around her laptop and with an excited yelp, they celebrate the results: schools in Miami-Dade's "School Improvement Zone," a region comprised of the district's lowest-performing schools, did well for the third year running, making significant gains over the previous year. In Zone schools and across the Miami-Dade district, low-income, African-American and Hispanic students are outperforming their peers in other Florida districts that serve students with similar income levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. And for the third consecutive year, this three-time Broad Prize finalist has continued to narrow achievement gaps between low-income students and their non-low-income peers—by as much as much as 6 percentage points in middle school reading and math between 2004 and 2007. Effective Union-District Partnerships Can Improve Teaching and Learning
Teachers in SSRI schools work a longer school day. Teachers in the Zone participate in extra professional development and work a longer day and school year. They also receive a 20 percent bump in their salaries. These terms are the kind that would stall reform in many other districts across the country. But in Miami-Dade, district and union leaders agreed that the changes promised necessary improvements in neglected schools, offered better working conditions for teachers, and had great potential to improve student learning. Together, they hammered out an agreement. "We were at the table throughout the design of both the Zone and secondary school reform initiative," says Fedrick Ingram, secretary of the United Teachers of Dade. "The district would like to take all the credit for the success we've seen, but they can't. We'd like to take all the credit, too, but we can't. It was truly a collaborative effort from beginning to end." In schools that are participating in the SSRI, students have access to additional coursework that prepares them for work after graduation, as well as more opportunities to take credit recovery classes, additional electives and dual enrollment courses—so that they can graduate on time and earn college credit early. Graduation rates are up in high schools across Miami-Dade; student participation in AP tests continues to rise; and in 2007, a record number of minority students took the SAT exam. Contact: * * * For more information about The Broad Prize and other 2008 finalists, please visit www.broadprize.org.sculpture © Tom Otterness, 2002 | ||
On the playground of Reynaldo Longoria Elementary School, students at recess kick a soccer ball across an asphalt yard just a short distance from the muddy river that constitutes the border between the United States and Mexico. Located at the bottom tip of Texas along the Rio Grande River, the Brownsville Independent School District is the southern-most district along the U.S.-Mexico border.
When Daniel was 7 years old, his family emigrated from Mexico to the United States. He ended up in a third grade classroom in Brownsville.
In a Stephens Elementary School hallway in north Houston, dozens of college flags line the wall, a row of colorful arrows pointing young Aldine Independent School District students toward their future. Half a mile away, at Aldine's MacArthur High School, name plates outside every classroom door identify teachers by the colleges and universities where they received their degrees.
An internal accountability system in Aldine keeps leaders at all levels of the district actively and singularly focused on the district's mission of "producing the nation's best."
Just before 8 a.m. on a humid spring morning in Hollywood, Fla., a group of Orange Brook Elementary School fifth graders are engaged in an early morning math lesson. Outside the coral-toned building's classroom windows, palm trees rustle.
Orange Brook Elementary School Principal Joanne Nitti beams as she watches first-grade teacher Tayna Krecker smoothly transition a group of students from their daily spelling lesson to independent reading without losing a moment of attention. 
With confidence that belies her age, Jenna Martinez explains the business proposition for "OptimoCo," a solar-powered energy company that she has founded—or, at least, someday hopes to. 
College is the expectation for Long Beach high school students. All middle and high school students meet annually with their counselor to review their achievement results, discuss areas in need of remediation and chart out courses needed for the following year.
Inside the headquarters of the nation's fourth-largest school district, the conference room windows open to expansive views of some of Florida's most popular beaches. However, the 11 members of Miami-Dade County Public Schools' cabinet gathered around a conference table are engrossed in their weekly strategy meeting, taking no notice of the tropical surroundings.
In the four years after he arrived in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, former Superintendent Rudy Crew initiated sweeping reforms designed to reverse a history of neglect and dramatically increase student achievement. Two in particular—a secondary school reform initiative (SSRI), designed to complement core academic subjects at the high school level with intensive new workplace and career path studies, and the School Improvement Zone, an initiative that offers an extra layer of support to the district's lowest-performing schools—demanded substantial cooperation between district leaders and the local teacher's union to carry out.