LOS ANGELES - The Broad Foundation announced April 5 that four urban school districts in the Northeast and one in Florida are the five finalists nationwide for the 2006 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $1 million prize given to urban school districts that have made the greatest increases in student achievement.

The five finalists are:

The Broad (pronounced "brode") Prize for Urban Education honors the nation's urban school districts that improve student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among ethnic groups and between high- and low-income students. The Prize is the largest education award in the country given to a single school district.

The winner of The Broad Prize will receive $500,000 in scholarships for graduating seniors. Each finalist district will receive $125,000 in scholarships. The winner will be announced on Sept. 19 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

"The strength of our nation depends on the strength of our schools, especially those in large urban districts that serve so many of our children," said Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation. "Broad Prize finalist districts are doing what some say is impossible - improving students' performance, regardless of their race or family income - while at the same time closing persistent achievement gaps. Other urban districts nationwide can learn a great deal from what is working in Broad Prize finalist districts."

The Broad Prize was started in 2002. The inaugural winner was the Houston Independent School District, followed by two California districts -- Long Beach Unified School District in 2003 and Garden Grove Unified School District in 2004 -- and Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia last year.

This is the second year the New York City Department of Education has been a finalist, and the fifth year that Boston Public Schools has been a contender for the education award.

This year, 100 urban school districts nationwide were eligible for The Broad Prize. The five finalist districts were selected based on a rigorous review of data compiled and analyzed by the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA). A review board of 16 prominent educational leaders from across the country evaluated the data and selected the five finalist districts.

Over the next two months, teams of educational researchers and practitioners will conduct site visits at each of the finalist school districts to gather statistical and qualitative information, including interviews with district administrators, focus groups with teachers and principals, and classroom observations. The teams will also talk to parents, community leaders, school board members and union representatives. The performance data and site visit reports then will be presented to a selection jury, comprised of 13 prominent individuals nationwide from business, industry, education and public service, to choose the winning school district.

The National Center for Educational Accountability, based in Austin, Texas, is a collaborative effort of the Education Commission of the States, the University of Texas at Austin, and Just for the Kids. NCEA identifies best practices within school districts and schools and shares them with practitioners to promote widespread school improvement. NCEA's Internet address is www.nc4ea.org.

The Broad Foundation is a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropy established in 1999 by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve student achievement in urban public school districts through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation's Internet address is www.broadfoundation.org.