Broad Prize for Urban Education

Study Year: 2005 - 2004 - 2003

Recognition, Intervention, and Adjustment
Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on school performance
Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on teacher performance
Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on student performance
Monitoring: Compilation, Analysis, and Use of Data
Develop student assessment and data monitoring systems to monitor school performance
Monitor teacher performance and student learning
Monitor student learning
Instructional Programs, Practices, and Arrangements
Provide evidence-based instructional programs
Ensure the use of evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements in every classroom
Use evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements
Staff Selection, Leadership, and Capacity Building
Provide strong leaders, highly qualified teachers, and aligned professional development
Select, develop, and allocate staff based on student learning
Collaborate in grade level/subject teams focused on student learning
Student Learning: Expectations and Goals
Provide clear, prioritized academic objectives by grade and subject that all students are expected to master
Implement the district's written curriculum and ensure that all students achieve specific academic goals
Ensure the district's written curriculum is taught to and mastered by all students

About The Broad Prize

The Broad Prize for Urban Education is an annual $1 million award created and funded by The Broad Foundation to honor urban school districts making the greatest overall improvement in student achievement while at the same time reducing achievement gaps across ethnic groups and between high- and low-income students. There are five key steps for the Broad Prize Selection:

  1. Identification of Eligible Districts
    Each year, over 100 urban districts nationwide are identified as eligible candidates for the Prize based on their size, urban environment, and low-income and minority enrollments.
  2. Collection of Student Achievement Data
    NCEA collects and analyzes extensive, publicly available student achievement data from all eligible districts. Data collected and analyzed includes student achievement on state mandated tests, demographic data, and achievement growth over time. NCEA also collects additional performance and improvement data, to include the reduction in achievement gaps among ethnic groups and between high-and low-income students.
  3. Recommendations by Review Board
    The succeeding pool of eligible districts is presented to a review board comprised of educational leaders from across the country who carefully review all the data collected and analyzed by NCEA to determine the five Broad Prize finalists.
  4. Site Visits to Finalist Districts
    Once the finalists have been announced, NCEA leads a team of experienced practitioners and researchers into the field to conduct site visits to identify key educational practices within these high-performing public school districts.
  5. Selection of Winner by Jury
    The resulting data picture from the site visits and the initial data analyses is presented to a jury of the country's most prominent corporate and civic leaders to select the winner of The Broad Prize. The Broad Prize winner is then awarded $500,000 to create scholarships for students to attend college or other post-secondary training. The remaining $500,000 is then equally split between the four finalists.

While the Broad Prize seeks to reward public school systems for their overall achievement, it was also created to highlight effective educational practices that are making a clear and measurable difference in large city school districts. All five districts' instruction and management practices are showcased throughout the year so that other school systems can learn from their success. Additionally, NCEA has collected exemplars of practices from all the districts that have participated in the Broad Prize since its inception.

Exemplars can be found by navigating through The Framework which provides a systemic look at district practices by organizational themes and by the prize year. In keeping with the systemic lens of the project, NCEA has also added school level exemplars from the 2005 Broad Prize finalists in order to demonstrate how district practices are translated at the school level.

2005 Broad Prize Finalist Overviews