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Congratulations to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) on winning the 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual grant given by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The Broad Prize is intended to distribute college scholarship grants to school districts that demonstrate large-scale improvements in student achievement.

From 2006-2009, the HISD graduation rate increased by 12%, faster than any other urban school district. The increased graduation rate has been coupled with improved college-readiness, exhibited by the 87 percent of Houston students who took the SAT exam, and the rise in minority students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

Not surprisingly, the HISD leadership has developed school policies in recent years that have caused the types of improvements seen within its student body. Teachers undergo training programs designed to familiarize personnel with state standards, as well as learning programs for math, science and ESL. Effective teachers are rewarded through a performance pay system.

The HISD staff also focuses efforts on college and career preparedness by encouraging AP course enrollment and entrance exam participation. Universities and outside organizations have been brought in to introduce STEM coursework and technical education.

While HISD was the recipient of the large grant of $550,000 in college scholarships, three other Broad finalists also received individual grants totaling $150,000: The San Diego Unified School District, Corona-Norco Unified School District in California, and Cumberland County Schools in North Carolina.

Upon accepting the award, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier expressed his gratitude to the Broads, and attributed the success of Houston schools to dedicated teachers and a system that allows schools to innovate and spend education dollars autonomously.

http://www.broadprize.org/mediacenter/photos/2013.html

“We are the largest site-based decision making district in the world. And I can promise you, when you have a Broad group come and they want to know how do you do this and how you do that, when you’re so, really decentralized as we are, it’s kind of hard to push and pull that all together,” said Grier.

He added, “I couldn’t be more humbled, honored or pleased to be here today. Frankly, this was a shock and a surprise. There’s just so many other people doing such good work and honestly I really believe there could be four winners up here today.”