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Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for preliminary nomination for the 2009 Blue Ribbon School Program (BRSP), a school must have:

  • Met all of its 2007 API and AYP targets, including those for the school overall and for each numerically significant subgroup and have a 2007 Base API rank of 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10.

  • Met all of its 2008 API and AYP targets, including those for the school overall and for each numerically significant subgroup.

  • Demonstrated significant growth in the percent of students achieving proficient/advanced in English-language arts and mathematics from 2004 to 2008. This growth is based on the performance of the students in the highest grade at the school. For example, in a k-to-6 elementary school, this growth would be measured by comparing the performance of sixth grade students in 2004 to sixth grade students tested in 2008.

For final nomination as a 2009 BRSP, a school must also meet all of its 2009 API and AYP targets, including those for the school overall and for each numerically significant subgroup.

Nomination Procedures

The CDE conducts extensive analyses of the statewide databases to identify schools that fit into one of the three following categories:

  • High Achieving, Dramatically Improving, Disadvantaged Schools: Disadvantaged schools showing very strong growth from 2003 to 2008 that are now achieving at high levels, reaching the 90th statewide percentile in the percent of students scoring proficient/advanced in English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics.

  • Dramatically Improving, Disadvantaged Schools: Disadvantaged schools that have shown significant growth from 2003 to 2008 and have reached the 60th statewide percentile in the percent of students scoring proficient/advanced in ELA and mathematics.

  • High Achieving Schools (regardless of demographics): Schools that achieve at the 90th statewide percentile in the percent of students scoring proficient/advanced in ELA and mathematics. Schools in this category may not meet the ED criteria for ‘disadvantaged.’

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) designates a public school as  “disadvantaged” if 40 percent or more the students either: (a) participate in the National School Lunch Program; (b) have parents who did not earn a high school diploma; (c) receive Migrant Education services; or (d) are classified as an English learner. When calculating the percent disadvantaged, a school must use cumulative, unduplicated student-level data aggregated across all categories. In its analysis of a school’s five-year’s of longitudinal growth, the ED reviews data only from the highest grade taught at a school. For example, at a K-to-6 elementary school, only 6th grade data would be reviewed.

Priority for Nomination to the Blue Ribbon Schools Program

Priorities for BRSP nomination are based on the following seven considerations:

  1. Is school a current California Distinguished School or a current Title I Academic Achievement Award School?

  2. Using the ED’s definition, is the school a ‘disadvantaged’ school?

  3. Has the school achieved at the 90th percentile in both English-language arts and English, based on the 2008 California Standards Tests (CST) for the highest grade at the school? (Note for high schools, this determination is based on the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).)

  4. Has the school achieved at the 60th percentile in both English-language arts and English, based on the 2008 CST for the highest grade at the school? (Note for high schools, this determination is based on the CAHSEE.)

  5. Is the school ‘high achieving’ based on the ED’s definition?

  6. How much has the school grown in terms of students who are percent proficient or advanced, summed for both English-language arts and mathematics, from 2004 to 2008?

  7. How much has the school grown in its schoolwide API from 2006 to 2007 to 2008?

Schools are rank-ordered on these considerations and the highest ranked schools are nominated to the ED. Superintendent O’Connell may only nomine 35 California public schools each year. Schools that have received the Blue Ribbon award during the last five years are excluded from consideration.

Blue Ribbon Schools from around the country are honored in Washington, D.C. at a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

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