ABSTRACT
The National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) is a research/service unit affiliated with the College of Education and the Department of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. NCUST was established in 2005 with the help of an endowment from Qualcomm, Inc. In pursuit of its mission to support school districts in transforming urban schools, the center immediately began a program of identifying, celebrating, and studying elementary, middle, and high schools that were among the highest performing urban schools in the nation. The center published and disseminated a set of award criteria; solicited nominations from state superintendents, local urban superintendents, and award-winning schools; and began a rigorous process of identifying schools for the center’s National Excellence in Urban Education Award.
