Texas School District Wins 2009 Broad Education Prize

A Houston-area school district has won the Broad Prize for urban education for its success in narrowing the achievement gap for minority and low-income students, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

The prize, awarded by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, carries with it $1-million for scholarships for high-school seniors in the Aldine, Tex., district.

Since 2005 the district has closed the gap in middle-school math scores for black students by 14 points. “It’s been steady, dedicated improvement,” Eli Broad said after Wednesday’s announcement of the award, adding that the foundation was “impressed not only with the data numbers but the quality of the teaching taking place in the classrooms.”