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What
is the Blue Ribbon School Program?
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program identifies and gives national recognition to a diverse group of public and private schools that are unusually effective in meeting local, state, and national goals and in educating all of their students.
The program comprises the Elementary School Recognition Program and the Secondary School Recognition Program, recognizing elementary and secondary schools in alternate years.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is designed as a national school improvement strategy. The intent is to effect improvement through the collaborative self-evaluation required of local school communities that participate and, through the stimulus recognition provides, to continue the pursuit of excellence.
Recognized schools serve as models for other schools and communities seeking to provide high quality education for all their students.
Which Schools May Be Nominated?
Public and private schools from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Defense Dependents Schools, may be nominated.
How Are Schools Chosen?
Each state administers its own program for selecting public schools to be nominated to the national level. Chief state school officers make their nominations to the U.S. Department of Education. The number of schools each may nominate is indexed to the state's population.
The Council for American Private Education nominates private schools, and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools nominate their schools.
A panel reviews the nominations. The panel consists of 100 outstanding public and private school educators, college and university staffs, state and local government officials, school board members, parents, the education press, medical professionals, business representatives, and the general public. Experts from specific areas of special interest designated each year also serve on the review panel.
Based on the quality of the application, the most promising schools are recommended for site visits. The purpose of a visit is to verify the accuracy of the information the school has provided in its nomination form and to gather any additional information requested by the panel.
Experienced educators, including principals of recognized schools, visit and observe the schools for 2 days and submit written site visit reports for each visit. The panel considers the reports and makes recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Education, who then announces the names of the schools selected for recognition.
What Selection Criteria Are Used?
The Review Panel considers the "Conditions of Effective Schooling" in each school:
Leadership
Teaching Environment
Curriculum and Instruction;
Student Environment;
Parent and Community Support; and
Organizational Vitality
It also considers such objective "Indicators of Success" as:
Student performance on measures of achievement;
Daily student and teacher attendance rates;
Students' postgraduation pursuits; and
Schools, staff, and student awards.
Each year, two special emphases are designated.
In the Elementary School Recognition Program, special attention has been called to math, science, geography, and content-rich arts programs. In the Secondary School Recognition Program, special attention has been called to geography, history, and content-rich visual and performing arts.
The subjects chosen represent areas in which, according to national and international assessment, school performance needs to be greatly improved and where effective models are sought.
Excellence in these areas, however, is not a condition of national recognition.
What Are the Benefits?
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program has proven to be effective in numerous ways:
Recognition itself is a powerful energizer for further improvement in recognized schools as well as a stimulus for continued efforts by schools striving for national recognition.
Public confidence in recognized schools increases, often resulting in higher local funding for schools, greater parent and community involvement in education, and success in the search for outside funds and other resources. The public spotlight shines on recognized schools; often they are the subject of articles in national, state, and local publications. They are sometimes designated as the universe from which schools, teachers, or students are selected for special awards from business and industry.
Recognized schools share with and learn about effective education techniques from other schools.
What Do We Know About Successful Schools?
A review of recognized schools reveals some common attributes. They have:
Strong visionary leadership
A sense of shared purpose among faculty, students, parents, and the community
A school climate that is conducive to effective teaching and the teacher growth and recognition
An environment that conveys the message that all students can learn
Programs that challenge gifted, average, and at-risk students
In addition ...
There is evidence of impressive academic achievement and responsible student behavior;
Parents and the broader community are actively involved in school affairs;
The school is committed to an ongoing program of student assessment and school improvement; and
The school has a "can-do" attitude toward problem-solving, preferring to view "problems' as "opportunities".
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program identifies and gives national recognition to a diverse group of public and private schools that are unusually effective in meeting local, state, and national goals and in educating all of their students.
The program comprises the Elementary School Recognition Program and the Secondary School Recognition Program, recognizing elementary and secondary schools in alternate years.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is designed as a national school improvement strategy. The intent is to effect improvement through the collaborative self-evaluation required of local school communities that participate and, through the stimulus recognition provides, to continue the pursuit of excellence.
Recognized schools serve as models for other schools and communities seeking to provide high quality education for all their students.
Which Schools May Be Nominated?
Public and private schools from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Defense Dependents Schools, may be nominated.
How Are Schools Chosen?
Each state administers its own program for selecting public schools to be nominated to the national level. Chief state school officers make their nominations to the U.S. Department of Education. The number of schools each may nominate is indexed to the state's population.
The Council for American Private Education nominates private schools, and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools nominate their schools.
A panel reviews the nominations. The panel consists of 100 outstanding public and private school educators, college and university staffs, state and local government officials, school board members, parents, the education press, medical professionals, business representatives, and the general public. Experts from specific areas of special interest designated each year also serve on the review panel.
Based on the quality of the application, the most promising schools are recommended for site visits. The purpose of a visit is to verify the accuracy of the information the school has provided in its nomination form and to gather any additional information requested by the panel.
Experienced educators, including principals of recognized schools, visit and observe the schools for 2 days and submit written site visit reports for each visit. The panel considers the reports and makes recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Education, who then announces the names of the schools selected for recognition.
What Selection Criteria Are Used?
The Review Panel considers the "Conditions of Effective Schooling" in each school:
Leadership
Teaching Environment
Curriculum and Instruction;
Student Environment;
Parent and Community Support; and
Organizational Vitality
It also considers such objective "Indicators of Success" as:
Student performance on measures of achievement;
Daily student and teacher attendance rates;
Students' postgraduation pursuits; and
Schools, staff, and student awards.
Each year, two special emphases are designated.
In the Elementary School Recognition Program, special attention has been called to math, science, geography, and content-rich arts programs. In the Secondary School Recognition Program, special attention has been called to geography, history, and content-rich visual and performing arts.
The subjects chosen represent areas in which, according to national and international assessment, school performance needs to be greatly improved and where effective models are sought.
Excellence in these areas, however, is not a condition of national recognition.
What Are the Benefits?
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program has proven to be effective in numerous ways:
Recognition itself is a powerful energizer for further improvement in recognized schools as well as a stimulus for continued efforts by schools striving for national recognition.
Public confidence in recognized schools increases, often resulting in higher local funding for schools, greater parent and community involvement in education, and success in the search for outside funds and other resources. The public spotlight shines on recognized schools; often they are the subject of articles in national, state, and local publications. They are sometimes designated as the universe from which schools, teachers, or students are selected for special awards from business and industry.
Recognized schools share with and learn about effective education techniques from other schools.
What Do We Know About Successful Schools?
A review of recognized schools reveals some common attributes. They have:
Strong visionary leadership
A sense of shared purpose among faculty, students, parents, and the community
A school climate that is conducive to effective teaching and the teacher growth and recognition
An environment that conveys the message that all students can learn
Programs that challenge gifted, average, and at-risk students
In addition ...
There is evidence of impressive academic achievement and responsible student behavior;
Parents and the broader community are actively involved in school affairs;
The school is committed to an ongoing program of student assessment and school improvement; and
The school has a "can-do" attitude toward problem-solving, preferring to view "problems' as "opportunities".
