at the US Freedom Foundation, noted in an editorial titled, "Awarding Blue Ribbons: Recognizing Schools or Students?" that criteria for the awards do not take into account the socioeconomic status of the students and that studies show that students who come from homes with higher income and better educated parents do better than students without these advantages by virtue of their backgrounds. Thus, the award is usually given to schools with students from wealthy backgrounds. As evidence to support his case, he pointed to the distribution of awards given in Pennsylvania one year; of the eight schools receiving the award, only one was in a district whose income level was near the state average, and the rest went to districts with an above average income, including two in the wealthiest communities in the state. While Kirkpatrick proposed an alternative to recognizing "blue ribbon students", he wrote, "...a more accurate indication of a good school would be one that adjusts for such socioeconomic factors and identifies those in which students do better than would normally be expected, based on their backgrounds." From the program's inception through 2003, schools were permitted to nominate themselves. As of 2003, nominations are handled through a state liaison which schools must contact for nomination. The program has also been criticized for assessment of schools coming from the school itself rather than an independent third party and a nomination and assessment process that favors schools with the know-how and resources to complete the review assessment. See also No Child Left Behind United States Department of Education References External links Searchable list of winning schools Official Department of Education website Education in the United States United States Department of Education 1982 establishments in the United States Awards given to schools