New York City schools receives prestigious Broad Prize.

New York City schools receives prestigious Broad Prize. SOME MIGHT CONSIDER MAKING marked reforms to a school district of1,450 schools and over a million students an unachievable task, but theBroad Foundation believes New York City New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. is doing just that. New York City has received the Broad Prize, a $500,000 award fromthe Broad Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by Eli Broad Eli Broad (born June 6, 1933) a native of Detroit, Michigan is a Jewish American billionaire who lives in Los Angeles, California. His last name is pronounced as rhyming with road.Broad is well known for his philanthropy and extensive art collection. dedicated to improvements in education, science and the arts. The moneyis put in escrow for the city's high school seniors to apply forcollege scholarships. "At least 50 or more of our graduatingseniors are going to get a scholarship," said Kerri Lyon, aspokesperson for the New York City schools. "Students will receive$10,000 if they are going to a four-year school and $2,500 if theyattend a two-year college." Bridgeport (Conn.) Public Schools, Long Beach (Calif.) UnifiedSchool District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. , Miami-Dade (Fla.) County Public Schools, and theNorthside Independent School District Note, this Northside ISD serves the San Antonio area. For the Northside ISD near Vernon, see Northside Independent School District (Wilbarger County, Texas) Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation).San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. , werefinalists, winning $125,000 each. Previous winners of the prize, whichwas first instituted in 2002, include Boston Public Schools, Norfolk(Va.) Public Schools, Garden Grove Garden Grove,city (1990 pop. 143,050), Orange co., S Calif., a suburb of Long Beach and Los Angeles, on the Santa Ana River; founded 1877, inc. 1956. Many of its residents work in nearby aerospace and defense installations, and there is light manufacturing. (Calif.) Unified School District, andthe Houston (Texas) Independent School District. "There were anumber of very strong contenders this year. Every single one of thefinalists showed improvements in reading and math at all different gradelevels," said Erica Lepping, a spokesperson for the BroadFoundation. Since 2002, the New York City school system has undergone asystemic change in the way it does business, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the BroadFoundation. A change toward a districtwide curriculum emphasizingbalanced literacy and the use of the Everyday Mathematics program,coupled with increased allowances on the part of individual schools totailor offerings within those guidelines, has enabled teachers todifferentiate instruction in most classrooms. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The city has also crafted an intervention model that enhancesteacher engagement with a student in an effort to increase performanceand prevent the need for special education services. New York City demonstrated greater overall performance in math andreading than other districts with students of similar income levelsthroughout the state. The academic performances of keysubgroups--low-income students, blacks and Hispanics--were also at ahigher level than those of other communities in the state. Theachievement gap between minority students and white students alsodecreased dramatically, as much as 14 percentage points in some subjectareas, according to the Broad Foundation. "I congratulate our students, who show every day that they canmeet high expectations when given the chance. We still have a lot ofwork to do, but the Broad Prize is an important sign that we are on theright track," said Joel Klein Joel I. Klein is Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States with over 1.1 million students in over 1,420 schools. , chancellor of the New York CityDepartment of Education The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. The school system these schools form is the largest system in the United States. Over 1. . There is a single quality the Broad Foundation is looking touncover from school districts. "We are looking to make sure thatthere is a purposeful reform that is driving the result," saysLepping. "Every single one of the finalists was showingimprovements in reading and math at all different grade levels."