Linda Darling-Hammond named a recipient of prestigious McGraw Prize in Education

NEW YORK - Linda Darling-Hammond was one of three people to receive the highly prestigious 2009 Harold W. McGraw, Jr., Prize in Education. The annual prize, given for the past 22 years, recognizes outstanding individuals whose dedication to learning is having a significant impact in America. Honorees are chosen by a distinguished board from the education community.

The prizes were awarded in a ceremony held September 29 at the New York Public Library. Also receiving the prize were Sarita Brown, President of Excelencia in Education, for accelerating educational success among Latinos and Joseph Renzulli, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, for his work in gifted and talented enrichment. Darling-Hammond, the Stanford University Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education and Founding Director & Faculty Sponsor of the School Redesign Network, was recognized for her guiding work in teacher education.

"This year's McGraw Prize honorees have worked to raise the quality of our education system and are making a difference for English language learners and gifted and talented students, as well as in the quality of teaching for all," said the prize's namesake, Harold McGraw, Jr. "Our hope is that this recognition highlights the work of these key innovators and helps broaden the impact of their solutions so that generations to come can benefit from their achievements."

Throughout her career, Darling-Hammond has focused on redesigning schools to improve learning, improving teacher quality and promoting educational equity. Her tireless public service contributions have made an impact both locally and nationally. Nationally, Darling-Hammond's public service work has included serving recently as head of President Obama's transition team on education policy and, from 1994-2001, as executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, which produced the 1996 report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, that led to widespread changes in teaching policy.

Among her numerous projects locally, Darling-Hammond helped found East Palo Alto Academy, a public charter with both a K-8 school and a high school. Since its first graduating class in 2005, the high school has averaged a 90-percent graduation and college entrance rate unheard of for its area. Darling-Hammond plans to donate her $25,000 McGraw Prize gift to the academy.

Past McGraw Prize honorees include former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley; former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige; the Honorable James B. Hunt, Jr., former Governor of North Carolina; James P. Comer, M.D., Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale University Child Study Center; Yvonne Chan, Ed.D., Principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center; Mary E. Diaz, Ph.D., Dean of Education, Alverno College; Carl Cohn, former Superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District; Barbara Bush, founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy; and Dennis Littky, Co-Director of The Met, and Director of the Principal Residency Network.