Two school principals and a former U.S. education official have won the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. The $25,000 awards are given each year by McGraw-Hill Inc.
The prize recognizes outstanding achievement in developing and implementing programs and ideas that serve as effective models to improve learning.
The 1994 winners are: Patricia M. Bolanos, the principal of the Key Elementary and Key Renaissance Middle schools in Indianapolis; Harold Howe 2nd, a former U.S. Commissioner of Education; and Alicia Thomas, the principal of Jackson-Keller Elementary School in San Antoniono.
Ms. Bolanos was honored for designing an elementary and middle school that drew on the multiple-intelligences theories developed by Howard Gardner, a Harvard University professor. Based on the schools’ success, she has been granted permission to develop a secondary-level program.
Mr. Howe’s lifetime contribution to education was recognized, most notably his work in directing the federal government’s effort to abolish school segregation under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He began his career as a history teacher and later became a principal and a superintendent of public schools.
Ms. Thomas was recognized for leading her school in a partnership with Trinity University to become the model for a new concept called The Basic School. The concept, developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, offers students a fully integrated, thematic curriculum.
Ernest L. Boyer is one of five recipients of the 1994 Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities. The award, originated by the National Endowment for the Humanities, honors Americans who have made outstanding contributions to the nation’s cultural life. Mr. Boyer is the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. John T. Bruer, the president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation based in St. Louis, has won the Grawmeyer Award in Education. The award honors leaders from education, music, religion, and public policy. Mr. Bruer was recognized for ideas in his book Schools for Thought: A Science of Learning in the Classroom.
