Gwinnett schools repeat as finalist for national education award
For the second straight year, Gwinnett County school district has been named one of five finalists for the largest urban education prize in the country.
With its nomination for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, the district is guaranteed $250,000 in scholarship money and becomes eligible for a full $1 million.
The award is presented to urban school districts with strong academic records that show marked gains in student performance and a reduction in the achievement gap among low income and minority children. Districts are nominated by a Broad committee that studies academic records from 100 of the nation's largest school systems.
The nominating committee cited Gwinnett's advances in narrowing achievement gaps in reading among African-American, Hispanic and white students. It also noted that in reading and math, Gwinnett outperformed other Georgia districts that serve students with similar family income levels.
Gwinnett was a finalist for the award last year, losing to Aldine (Texas) Independent School District. The only other Georgia school district to be named a finalist was Atlanta Public Schools in 2002.
"I think all of our people deserve credit," said school Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. " You don't get this if you don't have good instruction going on in the classrooms."
