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DESIGNATES 314 SCHOOLS AS 2009 BLUE RIBBON
SCHOOLS
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today
announced 314 schools as 2009 National Blue
Ribbon Schools. Secretary Duncan was joined
by Maryland State Superintendent Dr. Nancy S.
Grasmick, Montgomery County Board of Education
President Shirley Brandman, and Montgomery
County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jerry
Weast for the announcement this morning at
Highland Elementary School, a 2009 Blue Ribbon
School in Silver Spring, Md.
The
schools – 264 public and 50 private – will be
honored at an awards ceremony on November 3 at
the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.
For the past 27 years, more than 6,150 of
America’s schools have received this coveted
award.
“These
Blue Ribbon Schools have shown that all
children can learn with appropriate supports,”
Duncan said. “They are producing outstanding
results for their students. Some have shown
dramatic improvements in places where students
are overcoming the challenges of poverty, and
others serve as examples of consistent
excellence that can be a resource for other
schools. They are places where improved
teaching and learning benefits every student,
and where students are challenged to meet high
expectations with the active support of
teachers, parents and the community.”
The
award honors public and private elementary,
middle and high schools that are either
academically superior, or have made dramatic
gains in student achievement and helped close
gaps in achievement among minority and
disadvantaged students. Each year since 1982,
the U.S. Department of Education has sought
out schools where students attain and maintain
high academic goals. Using standards of
excellence, as evidenced by student
achievement measures and the characteristics
known from research to exemplify school
quality, the Department celebrates schools,
including those that beat the odds.
The
Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and
private schools based on one of two criteria:
1) Schools whose students, regardless of
background, achieve in the top 10 percent of
their state on state tests or in the case of
private schools in the top 10 percent of the
nation on nationally-normed tests; and 2)
Schools with at least 40 percent of their
students from disadvantaged backgrounds that
demonstrate dramatic improvement of student
performance to high levels on state tests or
nationally-normed tests.
In
addition, public schools must meet Adequate
Yearly Progress, or AYP, in reading (language
arts) and mathematics. Each state -- not the
federal government -- sets its own academic
standards and benchmark goals.
A
total of 413 schools nationwide can be
nominated, based on the number of K-12
students and the number of schools in each
state, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. The Chief State School Officer (CSSO)
nominates public schools, and the Council for
American Private Education (CAPE) submits
private schools’ nominations. The schools are
invited by the Secretary of Education to
submit an application for possible recognition
as a Blue Ribbon School. |
