Aldine ISD honored as best urban district in U.S. Aldine named best urban school system in America

Aldine ISD's Perla Davila, far left, Tameka Alford-Stephens, Janet Ray, Bettie Stubblefield and Patricia Guidrey react as Aldine ISD was awarded the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education today. The Broad Prize is the largest education award in the country that also includes $1 million in scholarship money for Aldine students. less Aldine ISD's Perla Davila, far left, Tameka Alford-Stephens, Janet Ray, Bettie Stubblefield and Patricia Guidrey react as Aldine ISD was awarded the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education today. The Broad Prize ... more Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer, Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Aldine ISD honored as best urban district in U.S. 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Aldine Independent School District's knack for coaxing strong test scores from students in some of the Houston area's most poverty-stricken neighborhoods earned it the distinction as this year's best urban school system in the nation.

The prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education comes with $1 million in college scholarships for Aldine's graduating seniors.

This was the fourth time the north Houston-area district was a finalist for the prize, which honors large school systems making notable gains in student achievement.

Aldine Superintendent Wanda Bamberg, who

accepted the award at an afternoon ceremony in Washington, D.C., said she deliberately did not prepare a speech.

“I did not want to jinx it,” Bamberg said as her staff gathered at district headquarters to watch the announcement live via the Internet.

When Aldine was revealed as the prize winner — instead of the perennial bridesmaid — district employees erupted in claps and cheers.

“Aldine shows us that it's possible for a district facing tough circumstances to get excellent results,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. “We need to highlight the success of Aldine and districts like it so that others can follow their examples and lift up all students.”

Third from Texas

Aldine, which serves about 60,000 mostly poor and minority children, is the third Texas school district to win the Broad prize since it was established in 2002 by the California-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

Brownsville ISD won last year, and Houston ISD was the award's first recipient.

The scholarship prize money will go to Aldine seniors graduating in 2010 based on financial need and a record of academic growth in high school, according to the Broad Foundation. Students attending four-year colleges will be eligible for up to $20,000, while those enrolling in two-year schools can receive up to $5,000.

As a three-time runner-up for the Broad award, Aldine racked up $250,000 in scholarship funding each time.

The other finalists for the prize this year were school systems in Broward County, Fla.; Gwinnett County, Ga.; Long Beach, Calif.; and Socorro, Texas, a district in the El Paso area. A panel of eight judges, including three former U.S. education secretaries, selected the winner.

“I think people were really rooting for (Aldine),” said Austin lobbyist Sandy Kress, a member of the Broad nominating committee who once served as an education policy adviser to former President George W. Bush.

“People across the country understand that for some significant period of time folks there have really been building something and sustaining it.”

The 100 largest U.S. school districts that also serve a large number of low-income children are automatically eligible for the award.

Strong test performance

Contest officials noted that Hispanic and low-income students in Aldine outperformed their peers statewide in reading and math at all grade levels in 2008. Black students scored higher than their counterparts in math at all levels, but fell behind in reading in elementary school.

The district's weakest area is science, where 63 percent of black students passed the state test in 2008, compared with 71 percent of Hispanic students and 82 percent of Anglos. Sixty-eight percent of low-income children passed, according to state data.

Aldine also drew praise from the judges for its “clear, rigorous expectations” for staff, its recruitment of top-notch teachers and the budget autonomy it gives principals.

Aldine parent Carlos Deleon, who has had three children educated in the district, attributed its success to “the community, the parent involvement and, of course, most important, the good teachers.”

“When I hear they're awarded more scholarships,” Deleon said of the students, “wow, that's great. These kids work so hard.”

ericka.mellon@chron.com