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WCSD Named Finalist in National Award from the
Council of Urban Boards of Education
Reforms and "Impressive" Student Growth Lead to Finalist Status
Reno, NV (Sept. 12, 2011) - Washoe County School District is one of three finalists in the nation for the 2011 Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Annual Award for Urban School Board Excellence, an award that recognizes one school district a year that demonstrates exemplary school board governance and improved student achievement.
In the announcement of the finalists for the CUBE Annual Award, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) said, "Nevada's Washoe County School District has had an aggressive agenda of change and reform. Working together, the superintendent, the school board, staff and teachers have made impressive gains in a short amount of time to address the high dropout rate and improve student achievement."
"It is a tremendous honor to be named a finalist in this program," WCSD Board of Trustees President Barbara McLaury said. "When the Board of Trustees called for change in 2009, we knew we needed to implement serious reforms immediately to truly impact the lives of our students. It is inspiring to see such strong results in the first two years since we started down this pathway of reform."
WCSD Superintendent Heath Morrison commented that he is proud of the hard work of educators and the community that led to achievements discussed in the District's CUBE Annual Award application. "The dedication of our teachers, principals and staff led to the two consecutive years of test score increases and graduation rate improvements. We have implemented ambitious reforms that directly target the needs of our students and we are seeing them perform better and better every day. We are greatly excited to be nominated as a finalist for this top honor in the academic industry."
The three finalists were selected by an independent judging panel based on materials submitted by the school district, independent follow-up research, and information provided by the district's state school boards association. The judges selected the finalists based on the following four criteria:
- Excellence in school board governance
- Building civic capacity
- Closing the achievement gap-equity in education
- Demonstrated success of academic excellence
WCSD's application explained the District's pathway of reform, including the creation of Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In Our Future, the school district's strategic plan. Through that reform agenda, WCSD's graduation rate improved seven percentage points in 2010 from 56 percent to 63 percent. An additional increase is anticipated for the Class of 2011 and details are to be released later this week.
The CUBE Award application for WCSD also cited impressive gains on test scores, which show significant evidence of narrowing the achievement gap. Between 2006 and 2010, African-American students improved their third-grade reading scores by 19 percentage points, while Hispanic students improved by 12 percentage points. These two groups also posted 20-plus percentage point gains in third-grade math, as did limited English and low-income students. Fifth- and eighth-graders made similar gains.
Massachusetts' Boston Public Schools and Texas' Mesquite Independent School District are the other two urban school districts that were named finalists for CUBE's top honor. The winner of the 2011 CUBE Annual Award for Urban School Board Excellence will be presented on Oct. 8, 2011 during the CUBE Annual Conference in New Orleans.
"The CUBE Award finalists are proof that diverse urban school districts can succeed, even during difficult economic times," said Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director of NSBA. "All three of the finalists have made extraordinary efforts to reach students and increase student achievement."
CUBE was established in 1967 by NSBA as a national membership organization governed solely by urban school board members and dedicated to the needs and interests of urban school boards. CUBE member districts total more than 110 urban school districts in 35 states and the Virgin Islands. Member districts educate nearly 8 million students, in over 12,000 schools, with a collective budget of approximately 99 billion dollars. CUBE helps urban school boards find solutions to challenges at the local level and seek to improve their policy-making effectiveness.
For more information on the award and CUBE, please visit www.nsba.org/cube.
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About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, Empire and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 63,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready.
For more information visit: www.washoecountyschools.org. Follow us on Twitter at WCSDTweet.
Washoe County School District
425 East Ninth Street
425 East Ninth Street
Reno, NV 89512
