Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Broad Prize for Urban Education?The $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, established by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in 2002, is the largest education award in the country given to school districts. The Broad Prize is awarded each year to honor those large urban American school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. |
What are the goals of The Broad Prize?The Broad Prize has four goals:
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Who is the winner of the 2011 Broad Prize?Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. CMS was a finalist for the award in 2004 and 2010. |
Who were the finalists for the 2011 Broad Prize?Miami-Dade County was also a finalist in 2006, 2007 and 2008; Broward County was a finalist in 2008 and 2009; and Ysleta was a finalist in 2010. |
Can districts apply for or be nominated for The Broad Prize?No. Seventy-five of the nation’s largest urban school districts that also serve significant percentages of low-income and minority students are automatically eligible for The Broad Prize each year. Publicly available student achievement data on these 75 districts are automatically analyzed and considered anew each year. |
Which school districts are eligible for the award?A list of eligible districts is available on http://www.broadprize.org/about/eligible_school_districts.html, and eligibility criteria can be found on http://www.broadprize.org/about/process.html. |
Who chooses the finalists?A review board of 21 prominent education experts from across the country analyzed the student achievement data collected by MPR Associates, a national education research consulting firm, on the 75 largest urban school districts for the 2011 Broad Prize. They then selected the four finalist urban school districts that showed the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. For a full list of review board members, please visit http://broadprize.org/about/decision_makers/review_board.html. |
Who chooses the winner?A selection jury comprised of seven nationally prominent business, government and public service leaders, including three former U.S. secretaries of education in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations chose the winner of the 2011 Broad Prize. The selection jury reviews, analyzes and discusses the extensive student achievement data that were presented to the review board, as well as qualitative reports on district-wide policies and practices that affect teaching and learning in the finalist school districts (the reports are prepared by RMC Research Corporation, an education consulting company). The selection jury then chooses the school district that both demonstrates the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students and that demonstrates effective, research-supported, district-wide policies and practices. For a full list of selection jury members, please visit: http://broadprize.org/about/decision_makers/selection_jury.html. [Note: The Broad Foundation, MPR Associates and RMC Research Corporation do not play a role in voting for the finalists or the winner.] |
What data are considered to determine the finalists and the winner?No formula is used to choose either the finalists or the winner. Members of the selection jury and review board rely on their analysis of publicly available student achievement data, their professional judgment, experience and mutual discussion. The selection jury and the review board consider the following student achievement and demographic data:
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What was involved in the site visits?A team of experienced researchers and practitioners led by RMC Research Corporation, an education consulting company, conducts site visits in each finalist district to gather qualitative data. The site visit team analyzes district-wide policies and practices related to student achievement, according to The Broad Prize Framework for School District Excellence, a rubric for evaluating the quality of district-wide policies and practices. The criteria, available at www.broadprize.org/resources/tools.html, are grounded in research-based school and district practices found to be effective in three key areas: teaching and learning, district leadership, and operations and support systems. The site visit teams gather evidence through analysis of extensive documentation, classroom visits and through interviews with district leadership, school board leaders, union leaders, principals, teachers, staff, students and parent and community representatives during a four-day visit in the spring. |
Why did Charlotte-Mecklenburg win?For examples of student outcomes, policies and practices that made Charlotte-Mecklenburg stand out among the largest districts in the country, please visit http://www.broadprize.org/past_winners/2011.html. |
How will the districts use the $1 million?The $1 million Broad Prize goes directly to graduating high school seniors to attend college or for other post-secondary training. In the winning district (Charlotte-Mecklenburg), students will receive $550,000 in scholarships, and in each of the finalist districts (Broward County, Miami-Dade County and Ysleta), students will receive $150,000 in scholarships. The combined total of all awards is $1 million. |
How are the scholarship recipients selected? How large are the scholarships?The 2011 Broad Prize scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors who graduate in 2012, demonstrate significant financial need and have a record of academic improvement during their high school career. Seniors from the winning and finalist districts are eligible for two- or four-year scholarships, depending on the type of higher education institution they choose to attend. Students who enroll in four-year colleges receive up to $20,000 scholarships paid out over four years ($5,000 per year). Students who enroll in two-year colleges receive up to $5,000 scholarships paid out over two years ($2,500 per year). The scholarship selection and disbursement process is managed by Scholarship America. |
Which school districts have won The Broad Prize in the past?2010 – Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta 2009 – Aldine Independent School District in Texas 2008 – Brownsville Independent School District in Texas 2007 – New York City Department of Education 2006 – Boston Public Schools 2005 – Norfolk Public Schools, Va. 2004 – Garden Grove Unified School District, Calif. 2003 – Long Beach Unified School District, Calif. 2002 – Houston Independent School District |
Why the change in the amount of the award?In 2011, The Broad Foundation endowed The Broad Prize with $40 million to ensure that the nation’s most improved urban school districts continue to be recognized for the foreseeable future and thousands more students will receive Broad Prize scholarships. To guarantee the award’s sustainable distribution, The Broad Foundation also scaled back the total annual award to its original $1 million level, so that funds available to support scholarships can be spread over future years. Therefore, beginning this year, The Broad Prize winner will receive $550,000 in scholarships. Each of the remaining three finalist school districts will receive $150,000 in scholarships, which brings the total scholarships awarded each year to $1 million. The endowment sets aside funds to cover future prize awards, the rigorous data analysis of the 75 eligible districts, comprehensive site visits to the finalists, and national showcasing and sharing of best practices. |
Why the change in total eligible districts and total number of finalists?Because demographics have changed in and around many metropolitan areas in the U.S. since The Broad Prize was first awarded, The Broad Foundation revised the eligibility criteria in 2011 to ensure that eligible districts are demographically comparable (truly urban and relatively similar in size). Under the new, tightened eligibility requirements, 75 school districts are now eligible each year, down from 100. The 75 eligible school districts are those that generally 1) serve at least 37,500 students, 2) fit "large city," "mid-sized city," or "suburb of a large city" definitions according to the National Center for Educational Statistics Common Core of Data, and 3) educate a student body with at least 40 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch (FRSL) and at least 40 percent minority students. With fewer eligible districts, the number of finalists each year was also reduced from five to four. |
What policies and practices led certain school districts to become Broad Prize winners and finalists?For information on best practices in school districts that have become Broad Prize winners and finalists over the last decade, visit http://www.broadprize.org/resources/overview.html. |
How did my school district fare compared to other large, urban American school districts in student achievement?Extensive data showing relative student progress in the nation’s largest school districts resulting from Broad Prize analysis over the last decade is available at: http://www.broadprize.org/resources/75_districts.html. |
Who designed The Broad Prize sculpture?The Broad Prize sculpture was commissioned by The Broad Foundation in 2002 and designed by artist Tom Otterness. The sculpture is cast in bronze and awarded to The Broad Prize winning district each year. The finalist districts receive a cast stone sculpture. A Broad Prize sculpture also resides at the U.S. Department of Education.  sculpture © Tom Otterness, 2002 |
What is MPR Associates?One of the nation’s leading education research and consulting firms, MPR Associates, based in Berkeley, Calif., manages the rigorous and comprehensive quantitative data collection and analysis process for The Broad Prize. For more information, please visit www.mprinc.com. |
What is RMC Research Corporation?RMC Research Corporation is a nationally recognized research and professional services organization. Using a research-based rubric for district quality that was developed exclusively for The Broad Prize, RMC leads a site visit team of researchers and practitioners through the collection and analysis of interviews, documents and observations of Broad Prize finalist district practices. For more information, please visit www.rmcresearchcorporation.com. |
What is The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation?The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national philanthropy established by entrepreneur Eli Broad that invests in the bold and innovative transformation of urban K-12 public education in America so that students of all backgrounds are academically prepared for college, careers and life. The Broad Foundation supports efforts to empower students and teachers to succeed in the classroom, use resources strategically and efficiently, and attract talented Americans into the profession. The Broad Foundation’s Internet address is www.broadeducation.org. |