Eligibility for Public Schools: The Secretary of Education invites each Chief State School Officer (CSSO), and the chief school officers of entities including the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (PR) to nominate those schools that meet the criteria for recognition. In submitting nominated schools, the CSSO of each state and these entities must certify that the nominated schools meet the minimum requirements established by the Department and describe any other criteria used by the state to nominate the schools. States must rely on their state assessment systems to identify schools for submission to the Secretary. The nomination criteria, including assessments, must pertain equally to all public schools nominated from the individual states. The DoDEA, BIE, and PR may also rely on the published norm-referenced tests available at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/applicant.html, Non-Public School Assessment Information.

At least one-third of the public schools nominated by each state must be schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, all nominated public schools must have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in each of the two years prior to nomination (2010-2011 and 2011-2012) and must also make AYP for the year in which they are nominated (2012-2013). Since many states are modifying their school accountability procedures in accordance with their USED-approved flexibility waiver application, they can meet the requirement for making AYP in 2011-2012 and/or 2012-2013 by using the state's new accountability procedures, i.e., meeting the state's new Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs).

Eligibility for Non-Public Schools: The Secretary of Education invites the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) to nominate schools that meet the criteria for recognition. Non-public schools interested in being nominated should contact CAPE directly at www.capenet.org/brs.html. In submitting nominated schools, CAPE must certify that the schools meet the minimum requirements established by the Department and describe any other criteria used to nominate the non-public schools.

Performance Criteria: Schools nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award must meet one of two eligibility criteria:

• Exemplary High Performing Schools: Schools that are ranked among the state's highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or assessments referenced against national norms in both reading (English language arts) and mathematics in at least the most recent year tested.

  • For Public Schools, "high performing" is defined by the CSSO of each state, but at a minimum means (a) that the achievement of the school's students in the most recent year tested places the school in the top 15 percent in the state on state assessments of reading (or English language arts) and mathematics, and (b) disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must be similar to the results for all students tested.
  • For Non-Public Schools, "high performing" means (a) that the achievement of the school's students in the most recent year tested places the school in the top 15 percent in the nation in reading (or English language arts) and mathematics as measured by a nationally normed test or in the top 15 percent in its state as measured by a state test. If a non-public school administers both the state assessment and nationally normed test(s), the school must be in the top 15 percent in both. (b) Disaggregated results for student groups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must be similar to the results for all students tested.

• Exemplary Improving Schools: Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that have made the most progress in improving student performance on state assessments or assessments referenced against national norms in reading (English language arts) and mathematics in the most recent five years.

  • For Public Schools, "Made the most progress" is defined by the CSSO of each state but, at a minimum, means: (a) the school is among the top 10 percent of schools that have shown the greatest improvement in student achievement in the state over the most recent five years on state assessments of reading (or English language arts) and mathematics, and (b) disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must show improvement similar to that of all students.
  • For Non-Public Schools, "Made the most progress" means: (a) the school is among the top 10 percent of schools that have shown the greatest improvement in student achievement nationally over the previous five years on norm-referenced assessments of reading (or English language arts) and mathematics, and (b) disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, also must show improvement similar to that of all students. Please note: Non-public schools and schools sponsored by other entities that rely on published norm-referenced national test results will not be eligible for this exemplary improving performance category for the 2013 award. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is studying how best to measure such gains given that school performance is assessed by normative data on national tests produced by independent publishers.