Broad Foundation Visit May 28-31

HISD is one of four districts in the running for the top education prize

A group of national education experts are touring various HISD schools this week to gather information about why Houston students continue to outpace their peers in similar districts around the country. The site visits will help inform the decision on whether Houston will win the 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education.

HISD is one of only four urban school districts in the country in the running for the 2013 Broad Prize and for $550,000 in scholarships. HISD was chosen as a finalist in March for having topped 71 other large urban districts nationwide in making student gains. This is the second consecutive year HISD has been named a finalist for The Broad Prize after winning the inaugural award in 2002. 

In addition to touring several schools and meeting with focus groups of parents, students, staff and community members, Broad Foundation representatives will be distributing $165,000 in Broad Prize college scholarships among nine HISD seniors. HISD students are receiving the scholarship money because the district was a finalist for the 2012 Broad Prize.

The Broad Prize is awarded annually by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a national education philanthropy based in Los Angeles that seeks to ensure every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. The award honors urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement in the nation while reducing income and ethnic achievement gaps. 

Other finalist districts this year are: Cumberland County Public Schools, N.C., the Corona-Norco Unified School District, and the San Diego Unified School District. The winning district will be announced on Sept. 25 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  As a finalist, HISD is guaranteed $150,000 in scholarships for high school seniors who will graduate in 2014.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation was founded by entrepreneur Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds systemwide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive. For more information, please visit www.broadprize.org.