FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

CONTACT: John Schuster
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
305-995-1126

AT LAST!!! - MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS NAMED
BROAD PRIZE WINNER

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has been named the winner of The Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual award that honors urban school districts across the country that are making the greatest progress in raising student achievement.  This is the fifth time that M-DCPS had been recognized as a finalist. The District was also a finalist in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011.

“Fifteen years from now, the face of the nation will be the face of Miami-Dade today. We are a model of success for countless children everywhere who deserve better. America is a nation of innovation and the future America will be superior to the one we inherited ourselves,” said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho.  “We regained the trust of our community under the worst of economic circumstance.  And we did it without laying off a teacher or shutting down a school program due to economic conditions.”

The Broad Prize honors urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among ethnic groups and between high- and low- income students.
M-DCPS students outperformed students in many major U.S. cities in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in science, mathematics and reading.

The positive results are a testament of the school district’s concentrated approach in reading instruction, including summer reading camps;  reading interventions in elementary, middle, and senior high schools, as well as an emphasis on reading across disciplines; a focus on guiding middle school students to advanced level classes which increases the pipeline to Advanced Placement courses at the high school level; extended learning opportunities through the Links to Learning program, and the Superintendent’s Success Academy.

The winner of The Broad Prize was announced in New York City and will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for graduating seniors. Other finalists this year included Corona-Norco Unified School District in Southern California, Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas and the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida. The three finalist districts will each receive $150,000 in college scholarships. 

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