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The Long Beach Unified School District today was awarded $250,000 as one of four runners-up for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes the nation's most improved school districts, as we announced on Twitter this morning. The money awarded will be used to fund college scholarships for Long Beach's high school students. The Aldine Independent School District in Texas was awarded the grand prize of $1 million.

The award marks the second consecutive year that Long Beach has come away as a finalist, and the district has accepted nearly $1.4 million in awards from the Broad Foundation in the past six years.

"Being a five time finalist is a tremendous validation of the hard work being done in our schools," LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftchiyou told a crowd of supporters at LBUSD headquarters, where a group of supporters watched the proceedings on television. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi congratulated the recognized districts and emphasized the importance of investing in education.

"As Speaker Pelosi said, this is a great day for public schools and for celebrating your success."

Excitement ran through a viewing party at LBUSD headquarters this morning, as dozens of district employees and education specialists watched the proceedings on a television screen. The four runners-up were announced first, and it came down to either Long Beach or Aldine as those watching could barely contain themselves. When Long Beach was announced as the final runner-up, a disappointed sigh was collectively let out of the room - but the mood quickly turned to joy as this is the fifth time that the LBUSD has been named a Broad Prize finalist. Only the Boston School District has equaled that mark. Long Beach won the overall award in 2003.

Also in attendance was Michael Day, President of the Teachers Association of Long Beach, who reflected on the achievement.

"For our high school kids who are going on to college, it's a great thing for them," Day said. "Some of them may not have been able to go to the college of their choice if it wasn't for these scholarships. Maybe some kids who were considering college will be convinced to go now."

The achievement comes during a particularly tumultuous time in LBUSD history. Fighting massive budget cuts that threaten to cut services to the bone, the district has decided to place a $92/year parcel tax on the November ballot (click here for that story). continues to be recognized for extraordinary achievements on a national scale. All this, while dealing with the months-long disappearance and ultimate resignation of a board member (click here for that debacle).

UPDATE: The Broad Foundation has released a statement congratulating the LBUSD and listing the reasons that it was selected as an outstanding urban school district. From the release:

• Outperformed other similar California districts. In 2008, Long Beach outperformed other districts in California serving students with similar income levels in reading and math at all school levels (elementary, middle, high school), according to The Broad Prize methodology.
• Demonstrated greater performance by racial and ethnic subgroups. Between 2005 and 2008, participation rates and passing rates on Advanced Placement exams in core subjects for African-American and Hispanic students increased in Long Beach. Between 2006 and 2008, SAT exam participation rates and average scores also rose for Hispanic students in Long Beach.
• Closed achievement gaps. Between 2005 and 2008, Long Beach narrowed achievement gaps between Hispanic students and the state average for white students in math at all school levels and in middle and high school reading. For example, the gap between Long Beach's Hispanic students and the state's white students narrowed by 9 percentage points in elementary school math.
• Demonstrated strong district-wide policies and practices. Long Beach supports teachers and students with a common core curriculum that emphasizes higher-order thinking. The district also individualizes learning opportunities for students and uses classroom walkthroughs to provide objective feedback to teachers. Student achievement goals drive the recruitment, selection, hiring and placement of staff. In addition, the district uses sophisticated data analysis to drive continuous improvement, and administrators work diligently to keep the community engaged.

More to come...

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