Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Education is honoring 337 schools with the 2014 National Blue Ribbon Award.
- Awards have been granted for the past 32 years to schools with proven academic excellence or progress closing achievement gaps.
- In total, 287 public school and 50 private schools will be recognized in Washington, DC, at a ceremony on Nov. 10-11.
Dive Insight:
According to the press release from the U.S. Department of Education, the criteria considered fell into two categories:
- Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates are also at the highest levels.
- Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools are among their state's highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school's subgroups and all students over the past five years. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates for each subgroup are at high levels.
This year, the department made specific attempts to focus on the achievement of "subgroups" (i.e., minorities). The real interesting next step, and we're waiting for the analysis, would be a look at how many of the public schools are traditional public schools and how many are charters.