COSEBOC School Award for 2012
Technical Assistance Frequently Asked Questions
from the December 12 Webinar

What is the timeline?

What materials must be submitted?

Who is eligible?

• Any elementary or secondary school in the United States where at least 25% of the male students are students of color (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic, Native American, Multi-racial). Academic achievement of its male students of color is at least equal to the academic achievement of students in its state.
• Any elementary or secondary school in the United States that meets both criteria is encouraged to submit an application. This includes district, charter, and private schools, as well as co-educational and single gender schools. A school need not be a member of COSEBOC to submit an application nor will membership in COSEBOC be considered during the selection process.

Can private schools apply?

• Yes. We accept applications from any elementary or secondary school in the US. This includes district, charter, and private schools, as well as co-educational and single gender schools.

Does my school need to be a member of COSEBOC to apply?

• A school need not be a member of COSEBOC to submit an application nor will membership in COSEBOC be considered during the selection process.

If we win and participate in the 2012 COSEBOC Gathering of Leaders, who can attend and what expenses are covered?

• COSEBOC will provide round-trip transportation, accommodations, and free registration to the 6^th annual Gathering of Leaders for two representatives of each Award-winning school.

Can someone else nominate a school?


• Yes, if they are able to complete all the forms and provide all requested information.

Is there a limit to the number of schools that can be nominated from the same district?

• No. However, it’s important to note that these schools will be in competition with all schools in the competition, including the other schools in their district.

What does a winning school receive?

A winning school receives:

• $10,000 cash grant
• The opportunity to attend COSEBOC’s 6^th annual Gathering of Leaders in Durham, NC on April 26-28, 2012, and to present a learning seminar on the promising practices that led to their successes
• COSEBOC will feature the school in a national public education campaign highlighting the COSEBOC Award-winning schools and promoting the practices that led to their success.

Please clarify the criteria: “academic achievement of male students of color at least equal to the academic achievement of students in the state” – is that students of color in the state or all students in the state, and are these state statistics just for male students?

• Ideally you will be able to demonstrate that male students of color at your school are meeting or exceeding the academic achievement of ALL MALE students in the state.

Do you have the statistics for academic achievement for male students of color that you can share with me?

• We do not have these statistics readily available. One place to start is the state’s department of education website. Often there are publically accessible reports of test data, etc listed. Most likely there are reports, which provide comparisons across race, gender, etc. It may be helpful to call the state’s education office to see if they can refer you to specific documents that include the data you need.

Our school serves students with limited financial needs and has a work study program; is this factor taken into consideration or is this strictly academically driven?

• This award is not based strictly on academics. We are looking for schools whose male students of color excel academically and also demonstrate social/emotional development, appreciation for their own identity and heritage and that of others, and engagement in their community.

Would a school whose boys of color do not score at/above the state average for all students have a chance to win an award?

• This award seeks schools whose male students of color excel academically. In order to be eligible, schools must demonstrate that “the academic achievement of its males students of color is equal to academic achievement of all students in its state.” One way to demonstrate that is through student performance on the state assessment. However, schools may present other evidence and reasons demonstrating that its male students of color excel academically when compared to the overall student population.

We are a network of schools. Do we provide a nomination form for one of our schools or our network?

• This is an award for individual schools.  Networks can complete and submit applications for one or more individual schools within the network. However, each school competes with every other school that applies for an award. Therefore, if a network of schools chooses to submit applications for multiple schools, these schools will be competing against each other as well as with all other applicant schools.

Can the money be used for anything school related or are there restrictions?

• The money is not restricted. COSEBOC will look forward to hearing how these funds were spent.

How many schools will be selected?

• We plan to award up to five COSEBOC School Awards this year.

The COSEBOC School Award Program is sponsored by the Open Society Foundation: Campaign for Black Male Acheivement

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