Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Broad Prize for Urban Education?


The $2 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, established in 2002, is the largest education award in the country given to school districts. The Broad Prize is awarded each year to the urban 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 for Urban Education has four goals:

  • Reward districts that improve achievement levels of disadvantaged students
  • Restore the public's confidence in our nation's public schools by highlighting successful urban districts
  • Create competition and provide incentives for districts to improve
  • Showcase the best practices of successful districts

Who are the finalists for the 2010 Broad Prize?


The 2010 finalists are:

How is the winner of The Broad Prize for Urban Education selected?


The Broad Prize selection process involves five steps:
  1. 100 eligible districts identified
  2. Review Board determines finalists
  3. Finalist site visits
  4. Selection Jury determines winner
  5. Announcement event and beginning of year-long showcasing and scholarship process
> Learn more about the selection process

Can school districts apply for The Broad Prize?


No, 100 urban school districts are identified each year as eligible for The Broad Prize based on size, poverty rates, minority enrollment and urbanicity. These 100 districts are analyzed and considered each year based on publicly available data. Inclusion in the list of 100 Broad Prize-eligible districts is not an indicator of a district’s performance or achievement levels.
> View the list of Broad Prize-eligible school districts

What data are considered to determine the finalists and the winner?


The Broad Prize Review Board determines the five finalists based on the following data:
  • Performance and improvement results on mandated state reading and math tests for elementary, middle and high schools
  • Performance and improvement of the district compared with expected results for similar districts (based on poverty levels) in the state
  • Performance and improvement of the district compared with results for the rest of the state
  • The reduction of achievement gaps between ethnic and income groups and the magnitude of achievement gaps
  • Graduation rates calculated using the latest enrollment data available from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data (CCD) according to three different methods: the Average Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), the Urban Institute Graduation Rate (Cumulative Promotion Index or CPI), and the Manhattan Institute Graduation Rate (Greene’s Graduation Indicator or CGI)
  • Advanced Placement exam participation and passing rates
  • SAT and ACT participation rates and scores
  • Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results
  • District demographic data (student enrollment, income, language, special education, ethnicity)
The Selection Jury then determines the winner based on analysis of the above data, as well as a review of qualitative site visit reports and additional analyses of student achievement measures for each district. No formula is used to choose either the finalists or the winner. Members of the Review Board and Selection Jury rely on their professional judgment, experience and discussion with one another.

What's involved in The Broad Prize site visits?


The site visit teams spend four days in each finalist district gathering evidence of district policies and practices through analysis of extensive documentation, classroom visits and interviews with each district’s leadership team, school board leaders, union leaders, principals, teachers, staff and parent and community representatives.

Finalist district policies and practices affecting teaching and learning are then evaluated according to The Broad Prize Framework for School District Excellence, a rubric for evaluating the quality of district-wide policies and practices. The framework is 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.
 

How do districts use The Broad Prize money?


The $2 million Broad Prize goes directly to graduating high school seniors to attend college or other post-secondary training. The winning district receives $1 million in scholarships, and the four finalist districts each receive $250,000 in scholarships.
> Learn more about The Broad Prize Scholarships

How are Broad Prize scholarship recipients selected? How much are the scholarships?


The Broad Prize scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors from finalist districts who demonstrate a record of academic improvement during their high school careers and have a significant financial need. 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 $20,000 scholarships paid out over four years ($5,000 per year). Students who enroll in two-year colleges or technical programs receive $5,000 scholarships paid out over two years ($2,500 per year). The scholarship selection and disbursement process is managed by Scholarship America.
> Learn more about The Broad Prize Scholarships

What school districts have won The Broad Prize?


2009 - Aldine Independent School District, Texas 
2008 - Brownsville Independent School District, 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

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, Inc.?


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.

What is RMC Research Corporation?


RMC Research Corporation is an educational consulting company based in Denver. Using a research-based rubric for district quality which 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. 

What is The Broad Foundation?


The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by businessman and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts. The Broad Foundation’s education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. For more information, please visit www.broadfoundation.org.