Welcome to the September 2007 edition of Eye on the Prize: The Road to Broad.

It's official: the winner of the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education is the New York City Department of Education.

In an announcement made Sept. 18 by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and philanthropist Eli Broad at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., New York City was recognized as the top urban school system in the country for its impressive improvements in student achievement and reductions in achievement gaps among poor and minority students. The announcement was followed by a celebratory luncheon featuring a keynote address by former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell.

"Nothing is more important to the future of this country than giving young people the tools to succeed," said Secretary Spellings, before opening the envelope that revealed the New York City Department of Education was the 2007 Broad Prize winner. "With the help of strong, innovative leadership, Broad Prize school districts are proving that if we raise our expectations, our children will rise to the challenge."

The 2007 Broad Prize Finalists

• New York City Department of Education
• Bridgeport Public Schools, Conn.
• Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.
• Miami-Dade County Public Schools
• Northside Independent School District, northwest San Antonio

The New York City Department of Education earned Broad Prize finalist-status for two consecutive years before its win this year. Read on to learn about just a few of the reasons New York City took home the Prize this year.

New York City Department of Education

"If I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere," so goes New York's famous namesake song. Those words apply to this year's Broad Prize winner, as well. On sheer size alone, the New York City Department of Education's (NYCDOE) improvement in student achievement is remarkable and is proof for other districts across the country that reform is possible.

From restructuring the system's bureaucracy and opening new schools to awarding autonomy to educators across the district, New York City has undertaken groundbreaking reforms for its 1.1 million students. And the hard work of the city's parents, teachers and staff has paid off.

In 2006, New York City both outperformed and showed greater improvement than other districts in the state of New York that also serve a high percentage of low-income students, according to The Broad Prize methodology. New York City's low-income, African-American and Hispanic students also outperformed and showed greater improvement than their peers in similar districts in the state, according to The Broad Prize methodology. New York City narrowed achievement gaps for its African-American and Hispanic students, compared to white students in the city and also compared to the average of white students statewide.

So how did New York do it?

The genesis of New York City's dramatic reform was the election of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2001. With legislation that gave the mayor control of the city's schools, Bloomberg made education a centerpiece issue of his administration, symbolically moving the Department of Education offices into the Tweed Courthouse across the street from City Hall. And he brought in an unlikely leader to be chancellor of the nation's largest school system.

A career attorney, Joel Klein was best known for leading the U.S. government's anti-trust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s. Bloomberg knew that Klein would have the appetite for making tough decisions to improve the city's school system. And Klein knew that he would have the backing of the mayor.

In 2003, Klein first tackled a department-wide restructuring, reassigning a significant amount of responsibility from the city's 32 community school districts to 10 new regional centers, each led by a regional superintendent, reporting directly to the chancellor. This created a clear line of communication between principals and the top district administrator. The 10 regional superintendents were supported by newly formed teams of regional and local instructional superintendents, with a clear focus on teaching and learning.

From 2003 until the spring of 2007, local and regional instructional superintendents supported the implementation of a core curriculum that defined common approaches to teaching literacy and mathematics. They also were directly engaged in teaching and learning in each region by observing and providing feedback to principals, conducting school walk-throughs, and providing guidance to teachers on supplemental curriculum development. At the school level, literacy and mathematics coaches carried these efforts deeply into classrooms.

By design, regions were supported by six "operational centers," a more nimble support service office that assisted schools with human resources, vendor contracts, budgeting, information technology and more. The district purposefully chose this six-to-ten ratio, Klein explains, to break down the politics and deal-making that used to occur within community districts—and to start redirecting schools' focus on only one goal: raising student achievement.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Klein is further developing the support structures for schools in fall 2007 by replacing these operating centers with new "service centers." While most U.S. school districts keep food, busing, safety and facilities operations in separate departmental silos, NYCDOE is integrating them into one-stop shopping so principals can receive all the operational support they need in one place.

NYCDOE has also opened nearly 200 new schools since 2003, phasing out 60 large, chronically low-performing schools and replacing them with small, personalized schools that limit grade size to about 100 students.

"From the beginning, our whole theory of change was that schools are the units that matter," says Klein. "Schools are the place where teaching and learning take place, and schools are the place where a kid either gets a fair shot or doesn't."

Empowering principals. While Klein spent his first few years working to get all schools on the same page, by streamlining regional structures and by mandating common curricula in math and literacy, he has since purposefully allowed the "control" pendulum to swing to the other side—so principals are making major decisions on behalf of their schools.

Beginning this school year, all principals in the city will receive greater decision-making authority for the particular needs of their schools, as the department expands its "Empowerment School" pilot that started in 2006. Principals across the city have greater autonomy over instructional methods, interim assessments, professional development, the structure of the school day and the budget.

"Great results can be inspired by giving people the authority to do the work they need to do," says Klein.

Mirza Sanchez Medina, principal of an Empowerment high school, agrees. "What we want is to do what's best for the students. Now all of us will be empowered to do that."

In return for autonomy, the department holds principals accountable through strict performance contracts. Schools that have consistently low student achievement over time may face leadership changes or closure.

These clear lines of accountability, supported by the city's new organizational structure, are helping to ensure that New York City offers its students "not just a great school system," in the words of Klein, "but a system of great schools."

Strong Practices in Broad Prize finalist districts

Of the 100 large urban school districts nationwide that are eligible for The Broad Prize, only five standouts are selected each year as finalists. Like New York City, each of these finalist districts demonstrates every day that progress in urban education is happening.

The following articles share some of the efforts in these districts—from the classroom to the school to the district administrative office—that have helped these finalists narrow achievement gaps and improve the academic performance of all students.

Bridgeport Public Schools

Of all 100 urban school districts that are eligible for The Broad Prize, Bridgeport Public Schools serves the highest percentage of poor students—95 percent qualify for free and reduced-price school lunch. Those demographics have led Bridgeport to embrace the idea of extending its focus beyond straight academics to include what Superintendent John Ramos calls the "well-being of the whole child."

"We need to create a school infrastructure that supports student social and emotional well-being, too, as a way of eliminating the barriers to learning," explains Henry Kelly, deputy superintendent for learning and teaching.

That philosophy has become evident in the district's commitment to provide full family health care at each school for students and their families. With onsite staff that includes a nurse practitioner, dentist, mental health counselor, outreach worker and others, the district recognizes that if children are healthy, they are more likely to learn.

And Bridgeport's approach is paying off. In 2006, Bridgeport outperformed other districts in Connecticut serving similar student populations in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. Bridgeport also showed greater improvement than peer districts in the state. Bridgeport's low-income students also showed great improvement than their peers in similar Connecticut districts in reading and math at all grade levels, according to the Broad Prize methodology.

Embedded professional development. The secret to the district's student achievement starts behind the scenes with frequent professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders. But its primary—and substantial—investment in ongoing learning is through instructional coaching. Every elementary and middle school in the district is assigned one numeracy coach and at least one literacy coach—sometimes as many as three, depending on the needs of the school's student population.

Teachers also enjoy the support of curriculum specialists—district team members who are deployed to schools throughout the city to support curriculum design and instruction. Teachers laud these embedded professional development strategies as one of their greatest instructional supports.

"Our specialists and our coaches are of tremendous support to the implementation of the curriculum and the instruction that takes place in the district," says Ricardo Rosa, the district's director of mathematics.

Union leaders agree.

"Our gains are due to professional development and fantastic coaches," says Milagros Vizcarrondo, president of Bridgeport Council of Administrators and Supervisors, the local administrators' union.

Bridgeport's coaches don't stay on the sidelines. They spend at least 60 percent of their time in classrooms, offering on-site assistance to teachers by modeling teaching strategies, co-teaching lessons and providing additional materials. Outside of class, coaches help teachers analyze student performance data.

"Our coaches are great," says Claudia Tuozzli, a third-grade teacher who has worked in Bridgeport for 10 years. "They share assessment tools that are different from what I normally use, and they help me tap into them so that I can really assess where each child is."

Despite the many challenges that students, teachers and leaders must overcome in a district that is surrounded by some of the wealthiest districts in the country, it is clear that Bridgeport's strategic investments in wrap-around services and embedded instructional leadership have been significant levers for its continued improvement.

For more information about Bridgeport's specific practices, please visit: www.broadprize.org/finalists.shtml

Long Beach Unified School District

Long Beach holds a place of distinction in Broad Prize history. As the 2003 Broad Prize winner, Long Beach was ineligible for the next three years. But this year, it became the first district to re-enter the final five as a finalist.

The challenge of how to sustain progress is one to which many districts can relate.

"Whatever we're doing, we're not doing for a prize, because we got it last time and we could have stopped there," says Principal Peter Davis. "But we keep going and we keep moving on."

In 2006, Long Beach outperformed other California districts serving students with similar income levels in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. Long Beach's low-income, African-American and Hispanic subgroups all outperformed their peers in comparable California districts in reading and math at all grade levels.

Long Beach has made strong efforts to introduce high-level concepts like algebra as early as elementary school and to expand course offerings to align with California's college entrance requirements. These efforts are supplemented by programs like Excel, Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)—a college preparatory program for students in the academic middle who are often from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Such strategies are designed to engage students in higher-level learning and to increase enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) courses once they reach high school. Indeed, since 2003, Long Beach enrollment in AP courses has increased by 49 percent, and the district has seen 75 and 62 percent increases, respectively, for African-American and Hispanic students. The percentage of African-American students who take the SAT has risen since 2003, as well.

"If Long Beach can do it, the rest of the nation can do it," Says Superintendent Chris Steinhauser.

School-based best practices spread district-wide. In 2003, an elementary school teacher in one Long Beach school experimented with a new data-driven program that allowed him to cover blocks of concepts more rapidly than most classrooms—and with a different instructional approach. At the end of the year, he reported to the district that as a result of the program, he had seen great improvements in his students' math achievement.

Encouraged, district officials offered other elementary school teachers in the district the opportunity to implement the same program in their own classrooms. Four elementary school teachers volunteered to try it and reported similarly stunning results with their students.

In 2005, this program—now called MAP2D—was put in place in 15 elementary schools across LBUSD. Though these schools serve a higher percentage of English language learners and students who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunch than other elementary schools in LBUSD, early results show that students in these schools performed 9 percentage points higher on the California Standards Test (CST) than their peers in the district's other elementary schools. So, in 2006-07, the MAP2D program was rolled out in 47 of the district's 51 elementary schools.

When potential best practices like MAP2D "bubble up" from the classroom or school level, district officials in LBUSD typically pilot them with a small group of schools to evaluate their success in raising student achievement. Then, if a pilot works for students, it is spread district-wide.

"Things are tried out in a small form, whether it's in one school or one classroom, and when they're proved to be successful practices, they're taken to scale," Superintendent Steinhauser explains.

With an early college-focus and district leaders who encourage innovation and constant improvement, it is no surprise that the district has once again earned recognition as a Broad Prize finalist for its high student achievement.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools

As the gateway to Latin America, the city of Miami has a global view of the world. And nowhere is that perspective sharper than in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. With the mantra, "Giving our students the world," this fourth-largest district in the country is focused on preparing every student to be competitive in the 21st century global economy.

"We read and talk about a world that is flat," says Superintendent Rudy Crew. "Well the truth of the matter is if this really is a flat world, Miami-Dade is trying to tilt this school system so that our children get the benefit of all of the assets, all of the best knowledge, all of the best technology that our community and school system have to offer."

And that commitment to give its students the best of everything is paying off for Miami-Dade. Between 2003 and 2006, participation rates for Miami-Dade's African-American and Hispanic students taking the SAT exam and Advanced Placement exams rose.

In 2006, Miami-Dade outperformed other similar districts in Florida in reading and math at all grade levels, and from 2003 to 2006, the district showed greater improvement than peer districts in the state in both subjects and all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology.

From principals to parents to local business leaders, stakeholders throughout the community are getting the message that Miami-Dade has high expectations for its students. They also know that they all have a stake in the district's success.

When Crew arrived in Miami in 2004, he made a significant effort to meet with parents, community members, the business community and other stakeholders to gather input that would help define the district's vision and mission.

Crew quickly identified the district's most underperforming schools and implemented a no-excuses policy. He began holding monthly COMSTAT meetings—short for "communications or command status"—to bring together the top district and regional leaders to rapidly assess needs based on data, dispatch resources to struggling schools and quickly evaluate success.

During these meetings, Crew and his administrative and academic cabinet analyze and review data on a variety of district- and school-level performance indicators. Regional superintendents present the most pressing issues from schools in their region.

The meetings are tense because the stakes are high: Crew asks pointed questions and expects immediate answers. Every staff member who oversees a major district function is assembled in the same room, and they all have to answer to one another.

"We all look at the data and ask, 'What is it telling us? What are the issues that stand in the way of improving instruction at this school?'" says Antoinette Dunbar, the district's deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "We hear from the region about what resources are required, and then the cabinet figures out how to provide them to the school."

COMSTAT has been used to rapidly deploy resources to several schools around the district - particularly in the School Improvement Zone, the group of lowest-performing schools in the county that have been identified for additional support.

"We send all types of resources: technology, security, additional teachers, additional counselors, social workers, student support teams," says Christine Master, assistant superintendent for professional development. "We know that when the deputy superintendent we work for comes back from a COMSTAT meeting, we have two and a half days to move."

Northside Independent School District

One of the most popular places in the United States to live, San Antonio is growing by leaps and bounds. And one of every two houses built in the San Antonio area is constructed in the city's Northside Independent School District.

Students at Anson Jones Middle School see the growth every day, up close and personal. At lunch, a group of them runs across a soccer field while 50 feet away, construction cranes lift piles of dirt. And after it recently became the fourth-largest Texas district at nearly 82,000 students, Northside is now expected to grow by an astonishing 4,000 students per year.

When he came on board in 2002, Superintendent John Folks knew that to lead the growing district in one unified, student achievement-oriented direction, he needed to ensure open lines of communication with teachers, administrators, parents, students and the community.

At the beginning of each school year, Folks conducts nine back-to-back pep-rally style "convocations" throughout the district, attended by every employee in each of the district's nine feeder patterns, to share news of improvements in achievement, gaps that remain, challenges the district is facing and his expectations for the year.

In 2006, Northside outperformed other districts in Texas serving students with similar income levels in reading and math at all grade levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. And Northside's low-income, African-American and Hispanic student subgroups each outperformed their statewide peers in reading and math at all grade levels.

Data-Driven Instruction. Northside has achieved student success through a district-wide effort to make data transparent. With rigorous state standards that are closely aligned to the district's curriculum, Northside has implemented Curriculum Diagnostic Benchmarks to use district-wide assessments of student progress toward those standards.

A Curriculum Management System makes these results available immediately on the web to authorized teachers and administrators, enabling teachers to spot individual students who need assistance, seek out advice from other teachers in their school whose students have had more success, and track their progress compared to other schools in the district.

Teachers, principals and administrators analyze results throughout the year, particularly during "District Data Day," a practice started in 2004 by Folks. During these summer sessions, every principal in the district receives a binder full of demographic and assessment data for their school and the district. School leaders spend a day together at the district office, interpreting the data to inform the school improvement planning process.

"Everything is so much more transparent now, says Jean Farmer, a district reading specialist. "Nobody can hide anymore—everything is out there."

But teachers weren't immediately receptive to Folks' plan to implement Curriculum Diagnostic Benchmarks. "I thought it was the dumbest thing I had ever heard. We didn't need any more tests around here," says Kitty Hamilton, an elementary school teacher. "But then we started getting the data. We realized how much of a gold mine this was, because we didn't have to wait for the big state test to see where our real problem areas were."

To help overcome resistance, Folks made clear that data-driven instruction was not going away, while he emphasized that these new tools would not be punitive to teachers.

And the district's embrace of these new data practices are evident even in classrooms where student results are posted by identification numbers so they can track their progress over the course of the school year.

"A few years ago, we'd get test scores, but we didn't really make decisions based on them," says Kathleen Akin, the district's director of secondary administration. "Now, we do."

For more information

For more information on the districts featured in this edition of Eye on the Prize, please contact:

Bridgeport Public Schools
Cynthia Fernandes, 203-332-2832

Long Beach Unified School District
Chris Eftychiou, 562-997-8250

Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Felipe Noguera, 305-995-1000

Northside Independent School District
Pascual Gonzalez, 210-397-8550

New York City Department of Education
David Cantor, 212-374-4341

This edition of Eye on the Prize was produced in partnership with SchoolWorks and Public Impact.