The “Million” Campaign Selected from Field of 432 International Contenders
Titanium Widely Recognized as Most Prestigious Cannes Lion Award, Honors the “Most Innovative and Ground-Breaking” Idea of 2008
Program is Being Piloted Among 2,500 New York City Public School Students
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today hailed the Million Motivation Campaign for being selected from among 432 international contenders as winner of the 2008 Cannes Lion Titanium Award, which honors the year’s “most innovative and ground-breaking idea”—an idea “so unique, new, and pure that it cannot be labeled in a conventional way” and is also “relevant to people’s lives.” Chancellor Klein launched the Million Campaign to help students recognize and internalize connections between education and success. The unprecedented initiative began operating in late February 2008 as a pilot program in seven City middle schools. Approximately 2,500 students received a free cell phone, known as the “Million” for the million-plus City students, that operates based on how well students perform academically. As the pilot expands, the phones will be used as a platform to communicate directly with students through a messaging campaign designed to “re-brand” achievement. Mentoring programs will cement core messages of the campaign while providing students with workplace experience, life coaching, and academic support. The Million concept was developed in collaboration with Droga5, with extensive input from students. The program is entirely privately funded.
“We launched the Million as part of our commitment to find innovative ideas for reducing longstanding racial and economic achievement gaps that many dismiss as intractable,” Chancellor Klein said. “We’re thrilled that this prestigious award recognizes our creativity and willingness to explore bold strategies to tackle a problem that has persisted for generations.”
“Over the past five years, New York City has taken strong steps to improve public schools and create better options for all students,” said Dr. Roland Fryer, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Chief Equality Officer for the Department of Education. “As a result of these efforts, student performance has improved and the achievement gap has narrowed, but we still face a crisis in African-American and Latino communities, where students constantly face negative pressures pointing them away from the belief that education matters.
“The Million is a bold idea that aims to re-brand achievement, motivating students to ‘buy into’ the belief that education is the best pathway to achieve their dreams and ambitions. We have seen encouraging results during the first months of the pilot, and this award confirms our belief that establishing true equality of educational opportunity requires risk and innovation, rather than continued reliance on conventional approaches which have only supported incremental progress toward that goal.”
The Million pilot achieved a high degree of engagement among students and their families during its first months of operation. More than 85% of eligible students opted to participate, and the impact of the program can be observed in preliminary data from student and parent surveys administered in late May 2008:
- Sixty-five percent of parents said that their children are doing better in school since the start of the Million program;
- More than 75% of Million students said that the program has impacted their schools in at least one of the following ways:
- Students are working harder;
- Students are “more competitive in a good way”; and
- Students and teachers interact with each other more;
Ninety-five percent of students said they would participate again if the program was offered next year;
Over three-quarters of parents noted at least one of the following changes in their child since the start of the Million program:
- Spends more time doing homework;
- Gets more excited about certain classes;
- Receives higher grades and/or better progress reports; and
- Studies more with friends.
The Department of Education will perform a comprehensive assessment comparing student performance trends during the course of the four-month pilot to prior performance of the same students and to performance of comparable students over the last five years. Pending available funding, the pilot will grow to reach 10,000 students during the 2008-09 school year, which will permit rigorous evaluation of Million’s impact on student achievement before determining whether to further expand the program.
The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival was established in 1953 and is often called the “Oscars” of the advertising industry. Since it was introduced five years ago, the Titanium Lion–which honors a breakthrough idea “so unique, new, and pure that it cannot be labeled in a conventional way”–has become widely recognized as the most prestigious award granted at the festival. Previous Titanium winners include the TAP Project for UNICEF, Earth Hour–the World Wildlife Federation’s campaign against global warming, and Nike+ for its digital training equipment. Nominees submit videos that are judged by juries comprising leading international experts in the advertising and communications field. The Million video submission, which showcases Droga5’s broad-based vision for what a fully implemented Million program might look like, can be viewed online at http://www.canneslions.com/winners/titanium/win_22_1.htm.
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Contact: David Cantor / Debra Wexler (212) 374-5141