Prichard Committee Wins National “Eddies” Award for Best Collaboration

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence has been named a winner of the 2025 Eddies Award for Best Collaboration by the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network, recognizing its leadership in a national coalition that is transforming how students are enrolled in advanced math courses across the country.

The prestigious Eddies Awards celebrate partner-driven policy work that leads to meaningful change for students and families. The Best Collaboration category honors coalitions that work across lines of difference to achieve significant, student-centered impact.

The Prichard Committee earned the honor alongside its partners BEST NC, the Collaborative for Student Success, EdTrust, ExcelinEd, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Education for their collective work on the Accelerating Auto-Enrollment in Advanced Math Coursework Across America (The 5A’s) initiative.

Through this collaboration, five states—Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Virginia—have adopted policies either encouraging or ensuring students who demonstrate mathematical readiness are automatically enrolled in advanced math courses. This shift means tens of thousands more students each year will gain access to rigorous coursework that can set them on a stronger academic and career trajectory.

“This work is a testament to what’s possible when organizations come together around a shared goal of excellence in education,” said Brigitte Blom, President and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. “By removing unnecessary barriers and ensuring students who are ready for advanced coursework can access it automatically, we are unlocking potential that might otherwise go unseen. This is policy innovation with real, lasting impact.”

Auto-enrollment policies replace traditional “opt-in” systems that often require families to take proactive steps or rely on teacher recommendations—factors that have historically limited access for many capable students. Instead, students who score at the highest levels on state math assessments are automatically placed in advanced classes, with families retaining the option to opt out.

“The auto-enrollment framework ensures students’ demonstrated ability, not bias or bureaucracy, determines their access to opportunity,” said Blom.

The 5A’s coalition represents a non-partisan, cross-sector collaboration that drew on the strengths of each partner. The result: a coordinated, flexible, and powerful national movement advancing access to advanced math opportunities for all students.

“This recognition from PIE Network underscores what we know to be true in Kentucky and beyond,” Blom added. “When we put students first, set aside politics, and work collaboratively, we can achieve big things for education.”

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

About the PIE Network Eddies Awards
The Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network’s annual Eddies Awards recognize outstanding education advocacy that drives policy impact across the nation. The awards are peer-nominated and voted on by members of the network, celebrating collaboration, creativity, and courage in education reform.