The second annual Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize for Schools Where Teaching Matters, a $15,000 award, will go to a principal whose leadership results in an academically rigorous and technologically innovative learning environment.  This year's prize will highlight innovations in the area of teacher capacity building and effectiveness. The prize may be used to support expansion and replication of the innovation. The award can be applied to any of the following:

• Human resources--including staffing, consultants, release and/or common planning time.
• Equipment
• Materials

2011 Winner: West Side Collaborative (MS250), Manhattan, NYC

Category: Human Capital – Teacher Effectiveness

The Westside Collaborative/MS250 is an innovative middle school located in Manhattan. We aim to foster teacher effectiveness through the expansion of our online collaborative community. We are pleased to highlight our innovative online structure which fosters staff ability to differentiate for students, share resources and lessons, collaborate without the time constraints of meeting face-to-face, track progress, communicate our teacher-leader initiatives and use assessment strategically. The effectiveness of our staffs’ use of these tools is evidence of how ingrained the collaborative structure is at our school where 75% of our staff is in teacher leader roles. Our schedule and differentiated staff roles promote the sharing of best practices in a culture of continual learning. This online collaboration system increases the ways our staff shares and makes that sharing transparent. The Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize will allow us to further our our professional learning community. We will purchase an ipad for all teachers to enable an efficient use of email, web collaboration & access to online PD, allowing them to keep their dedicated tool with them as they travel between their shared classrooms, thus extending their ability to collaborate beyond the school day. We would also use the funds to increase PD opportunities.

Eligibility

• Since this is a one-time award, Rohatyn Prize winners from previous years are not eligible. However, former applicants who meet program criteria may resubmit for consideration.
• Principals are eligible for nomination as representatives of their publicly-funded K-12 schools. Principals may apply on their own behalf or be nominated by another educator.
• Publicly-funded K-12 schools in the New York metropolitan area (within a 100 mile radius of New York City) may apply.

Criteria

Submissions must fall within the category entitled Human Capital – Teacher Effectiveness in the Teaching Matters Rubric for School Innovation.

Eligibility is open to schools that rate themselves as a Level 3 or above in one or more strands. For details on the strands within the Human Capital category (Teacher Recruiting, Professional Learning Community, Data Use and Collaborative inquiry, Retention), please review the rubric. It is not expected that the innovation will cover every strand.

For voting, finalists will be required to share their innovations with the educational community online. The annual Prize winner will be expected to host an Innovation Field Trip in the 2012-2013 school year.

All qualifying submissions will be considered in terms of how the principal has addressed the following in the initiative presented.

• Quality - Innovation increases "quality" in terms of one or more strand(s) in the category of Human Capital - Teacher Effectiveness.
• Efficiency - There is evidence that the innovation contributes to a more efficient way of teaching and learning and/or school management.
• Cost Effectiveness - There is evidence that the innovation adds value to the institution while at the same time containing or reducing costs.
• Replicability - The innovation selected can be replicated in other schools with a minimum of difficulty.
• Creativity - The innovation is original or the adaptation is creative.
• Current - The innovation should not be more than five years old in the building, but it must have been around long enough to be tested.
• Supportive of Learning - The innovation is accompanied by evidence that it benefits student learning outcomes.
• Sustainability - The innovation is supported by and supportive of a critical school improvement priority. The innovation has the potential to scale to other parts of the school (either as a model or because it will have direct impact).

Judging

Submissions will be judged by the Prize Committee using Teaching Matters’ Rubric for School Innovation. The Committee will include educational innovators and practitioners. The Rohatyn Prize Winner will be selected by a multi-step process that includes:

• Completion of a nomination/qualifying online application by either nominee  or nominating colleague
• Submission of a Full Application by nominee and
• Final selection determined by a vote representing the Prize Committee and the public.

About the Rohatyn Prize

The Rohatyn Prize is underwritten by The Elizabeth Rohatyn Innovation Fund. Mrs. Rohatyn is a champion of innovation and education. Driven by the belief that teachers are the most important school related factor in raising student achievement, Mrs. Rohatyn joined forces with former teachers, principals and technology experts and founded Teaching Matters in 1994.