A ROUND OF APPLAUSE: Alberto M. Carvalho (Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public County Schools), Anant Agarwal (CEO of edX) and Sakena Yacoobi (CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning) are the 2016 recipients of Harold W. McGraw Hill, Jr. Prize in Education.
Every year the prize awards three individuals with outstanding work in three categories: K-12, higher education and international education. Winners receive a gift of $50,000 each. This year, Carvalho, Agarwal and Yacoobi will receive the prize during ASU + GSV Education Innovation Summit in San Diego, on April 19th.
Carvalho, the honoree of K12 category, was chosen for his work in improving graduation rates in Miami-Dade, the fourth largest US school district, where 90 percent of students are from minority backgrounds and 72 percent are from low income families. The superintendent, who is from Portugal and arrived in the US at the age of 17 speaking no English, has been the head of the district since 2008.
Agarwal, the higher-education recipient, was rewarded for his leadership in the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Through partnerships with NGOs, governments and universities, edX now serves over five million learners.
Yacoobi, the international category winner, founded the Afghan Institute of Learning in 1995 to provide the right of education to Afghans, especially for girls and women. The organization claims to have reached more than 12 million people with its program.
