NCLB-Blue
Ribbon Schools
October 20, 2006
Beverly
and Skaggs Elementary Schools Earn National Award
Texas
Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley announced
recently that Beverly and Skaggs elementary schools in Plano ISD
are among 26 Texas public
schools that will be honored by the U.S. Department of Education
with the esteemed "2006 No Child Left
Behind—Blue
Ribbon Schools Award."
The
No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools Program
(NCLB—BRS) recognizes outstanding public and private schools
that are either academically superior in their states or that demonstrate
dramatic and consistent gains in student achievement.
Nominated
schools must meet one of two criteria:
- Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged
backgrounds
that show dramatic improvement in student performance on state
tests over the past three years in reading or English language
arts and mathematics; or
- Schools whose students, regardless
of demographics, achieve in the top 10 percent on state tests
in reading or English language arts and mathematics.
In addition,
Blue Ribbon Schools must also meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
in reading or English language arts and mathematics, must not
be
identified as a “Persistently Dangerous” school within
the last two years, and be in compliance with other USDE requirements.
“These Blue Ribbon Schools are
shining examples that, with hard work and dedication, all students
can
succeed,” said Commissioner Neeley. “The Blue Ribbon
Schools are just a few of the many schools in our state that
are doing
an
outstanding
job at educating students and closing the gap. We are delighted
that every single Texas school nominated for this award won it.”
Under
guidelines for the program, Texas can nominate a maximum of
26 public schools annually. The Blue Ribbon Schools
Program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing
the achievement
gap or whose students achieve at very high levels.
U.S. Secretary
of Education Margaret Spellings and the Department of Education
will honor the Blue Ribbon School recipients and highlight
their
achievements at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on Nov. 9-10.
The award recipients will be recognized as national
models of excellence.
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