Visit the new site for new information. The State Board of Education last week approved 1996-97 guidelines for the program, which was established by the Education Improvement Act of 1984. The guidelines reward schools that have demonstrated outstanding levels of student achievement, or that have shown significant improvement in student performance. Schools essentially compete with themselves to improve their previous performance. No matter where a school is in terms of geography or socio-economic status, what's needed for success is high academic expectations for all students.
Award amounts for winning schools are determined according to a per-student formula.
In addition to individual school winners, seven school districts received monetary rewards as a result of two thirds of the schools in that district qualifying as individual winners. Twenty-five vocational and career centers won awards. A vocational or career center can receive an incentive reward if it serves students from a secondary school that also has received a reward, and if the vocational center places 80 percent of its graduates in jobs within a year of their graduation. Nielsen noted that 42 schools which had been targeted to receive special assistance had won incentive rewards, meaning that they had shown improvement from last year. It shows that a lot of hard work is being done in those schools, and it's paying off for the children.