NCUST

2008 NCUST Excellence in Urban Education Award Criteria

The NCUST Excellence in Urban Education Award program was established exclusively to recognize public schools or public charter schools serving urban communities. NCUST will consider applications for schools that meet the following criteria:

  1. Non-Selective Admissions: Students are not required to meet any academic criteria in order to attain or retain enrollment.
  2. Urban Location: The school is located in a city with a population of at least 100,000 people, the state education agency has labeled the school district as “urban” or “urban fringe,” or the school district is a member of the Council of Great City Schools.
  3. Low-Income Student Population: At least 50 percent of the school’s students must qualify for the federal free- or reduced-price lunch program or the state education agency’s low-income classification. Secondary schools may be considered if at least 50 percent of the students meet the federal or state criteria in two-thirds of the elementary schools that feed into the secondary school.
  4. Adequate Yearly Progress: The school achieved adequate yearly progress in both of the past two school years.
  5. High Attendance Rates: Student attendance rates were at least 92 percent in both of the past two school years.
  6. High Proficiency Rates: A high percentage of students demonstrated proficiency on state assessments of English Language Arts, reading, mathematics, writing, science, or social studies in both of the past two school years.

    • The school’s composite performance index score for each of the last two school years was higher than the state average and among the top ten percent of schools serving comparable populations of students.
    • Or  in at least two grade level subject assessments (e.g., 6th grade reading and 7th grade mathematics), the percentage of students proficient exceeded the state average, and in at least two grade level subject assessments, the percentage of students proficient was among the top ten percent of schools serving comparable populations of students.
  7. Small Achievement Gaps: The most recent year state assessment performances of demographic groups served at the school showed a small or no achievement gap.

    • The composite performance index for the lowest performing racial/ethnic group was at least 85 percent of the performance index for the highest performing racial/ethnic group, and the performance index for the lowest performing demographic group (including students meeting low-income criteria, English learners, and students with disabilities) was at least 75 percent of the performance index for all students.
    • Or in two subject area assessments, the gap between the highest and lowest performing racial/ethnic groups was less than 15 percentage points, and in two subject area assessments, the gap between the highest and lowest performing demographic groups (including students meeting low-income criteria, English learners and students with disabilities) was less than 25 percentage points.
  8. High Graduation Rate: For schools that served 12th grade students, at least 75 percent of the students in each major demographic group who entered ninth grade in 2003-04 graduated by the spring of 2007.
  9. Proportionate Enrollment in Special Programs: The enrollment of students of different racial/ethnic groups in special education and gifted/talented education is proportionate to the overall racial/ethnic composition of the school.

    • The demographic group with the highest percentage of students receiving special education is not more than 1.5 times as likely to receive special education services as is typical for the entire school, and
    • The demographic group with the lowest percentage of students participating in the gifted/talented education program cannot be less than .75 times as likely to receive gifted/talented education services as is typical for the entire school.
  10. Few Suspensions/Expulsions: For every demographic group of students, the total number of days students were out of school because of suspensions or expulsions was less than one day per student enrolled.
  11. Other Evidence of Strength: There is other strong evidence of academic and or extra-curricular excellence such as high percentages of students passing advanced placement examinations, high percentages of students completing rigorous courses of study, or awards for school-wide excellence in academic disciplines, art, music, drama, career and technical education, or physical education.

Download the 2008 application. Please save the application to your hard drive and fill in. Please send the completed application as an e-mail attachment to ncust @ mail.sdsu.edu. Also print out the application and obtain original signatures on the certification page. Then send the hard copy to NCUST, 4283 El Cajon Blvd., Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92105.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2008 EXCELLENCE IN URBAN EDUCATION AWARD ARE DUE NOVEMBER 30, 2007 AT 5:00 PM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME.