Boston Public Schools chief operating officer one of 17 to graduate from urban superintendents academy

LOS ANGELES - James P. McIntyre, Jr., chief operating officer for Boston Public Schools, is one of 17 business executives, senior military leaders and career educators nationwide who have graduated from the 2006 Broad (pronounced "brode") Superintendents Academy, The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems announced today.

The Broad Superintendents Academy is a ten-month executive management program run by The Broad Center to train working CEOs and other top executives from business, non-profit, military, government and education backgrounds to lead urban public school systems. The goal of The Broad Superintendents Academy is for graduates to be placed into superintendent or senior cabinet-level positions within 18 months of graduation.

"After a rigorous year of learning with The Broad Superintendents Academy, our graduates now offer an incredible bank of talent, skill and best practices to solve tough problems in urban school district reform," said Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Center. "We are pleased that nearly half of this year's graduates have already moved into superintendent or senior school district executive positions."

Through the program, McIntyre completed extensive course requirements covering CEO-level skills in finance, management, operations, organizational systems and education, and acquired best practices and lessons learned from previous efforts in numerous, large, urban school districts nationwide to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps.

A complete list of this year's class is below and biographies can be found at www.broadcenter.org. Individual photos of participants are available upon request.

This marks the fifth class to graduate from The Broad Superintendents Academy. Nearly two-thirds of the graduates of the first four classes have been hired around the country as superintendents or school district executives or have been promoted into those positions, and nine out of ten graduates from the first four classes are still working in the same, similar, or higher positions. Of all large, urban districts that have conducted external searches for new superintendents in the last two years, one quarter have filled their positions with graduates of The Broad Superintendents Academy.

Graduates of the program today work as superintendents in 17 states in the following cities: Andover, Kan.; Antioch, Calif.; Arlington, Mass.; Aurora, Colo.; Benton Harbor, Mich.; Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.; Christina (Wilmington), Del.; Durham, N.C.; Duval County (Jacksonville), Fla.; Elizabeth, N.J.; Fairfield-Suisun, Calif.; Fort Bend, Texas; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Fort Worth, Texas; Highline, Wash.; Houston; Marlborough, Mass.; North Allegheny, Pa.; Oakland, Calif.; Paterson, N.J.; Pittsburgh; Pomona, Calif.; Portsmouth, R.I.; Prince Edward County, Va.; Prince George's County, Md.; Providence, R.I.; San Diego County, Calif.; Swampscott, Mass.; and Utica, Mich..

Those graduates who have served as superintendents for at least two years have already demonstrated district gains in reading and math - 86 percent are increasing overall district-wide student achievement on state reading and math assessments given at elementary, middle and high school levels. And three out of five are reducing ethnic and income achievement gaps faster than the following four comparisons: their own districts under previous leadership, other districts in the state that serve students with similar levels of poverty, other districts in the state with new superintendents, and the state average.

The selection process for the 2008 class will begin in January 2007. For more information, or to apply, go to www.broadcenter.org.

The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems is funded by The Broad Foundation, a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropic organization established in 1999 by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Broad Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve student achievement in urban public schools through better governance, management, competition and labor relations. The foundation's other major initiatives include the $1 million Broad Prize, awarded annually to urban school districts that have made the greatest overall improvement in student achievement, and The Broad Institute for School Boards, an annual training program for newly elected school board members that is designed to increase student achievement through improved governance. The Broad Foundation's Internet address is www.broadfoundation.org.