Award Criteria and Information

Award Criteria and Information

• Each applicant district must be a member in good standing of the National School Boards Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education.
• Each applicant district must complete the application form and provide a written submission comprised of approximately 1,500 words (this is a guide only — the aim is to ensure your entry is clear and concise) and substantively address why the member district should be selected for the CUBE Annual Award for Urban School Board Excellence, noting the demonstration of excellence in the four core areas of urban school board governance. The district selected must show a direct connection between a school board action/activity and the demonstrated excellence in the four core areas.
• In addition to the written submission and the application form, supportive materials (example: board/district policies, mission/vision statement, evidence of governance reform/improvements, other national awards/recognition, student achievement data, media accounts, board self evaluation tool, board agendas, outcomes of community engagement projects, etc.) also should be provided.
• The judging panel will review and select one CUBE member district for its excellence in governance. The judging panel may determine that additional CUBE member district applicants should be recognized for their exemplary governance work. One or more districts may be selected — the number will be exclusively determined by the judging panel and based on the quality of the CUBE member district application.
• The judging panel reserves the right to seek additional evidence from other sources such as phone interviews with key personnel, a local and national media scan and information search. This evidence will serve as supplemental support for the district’s application.
• The screening and selection process will be managed exclusively by NSBA under the auspices of its CUBE program.