The Miami-Dade and Broward school districts will learn Tuesday if they are winners in a competition with school districts from across the nation for what has been called the Nobel Prize for public education.

The grand prize for the winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education is $1 million in student scholarships.

But when the winner is named in New York, the drama of South Florida public education will be on display along with examples of success in large, urban public school reforms.

On hand will be ousted Miami-Dade Superintendent Rudy Crew, whose work won the nomination, and newly confirmed Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. They will be joined by Broward Superintendent Jim Notter.

The two districts and three others -- which cannot apply for the award -- were selected because over the last six years, poor and minority students have steadily improved their math and reading skills.

Their raw scores may not be impressive compared to smaller, more affluent or less diverse school systems. But the Broad, which rhymes with road, is designed for districts where improving student achievement is especially difficult.

''No large urban district in America is close to being perfect,'' said Erica Lepping, a Broad Foundation spokeswoman. The finalists are chosen from the 100 biggest districts nationwide. ``Data shows that these five are far surpassing their peers.''

Miami-Dade is a third-time finalist for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, and this is Broward's first time. About 40 Miami-Dade students have already received $250,000 in scholarships from Broad because of the district's previous stints as a finalist.

Both South Florida districts are getting more kids to take college entrance exams including the ACT and SAT, and graduation rates are inching up. More students are taking college-level classes in high school.

''The third time is a charm, and I certainly believe this is something that this community needs and deserves,'' Carvalho said.

The recognition is especially welcome in South Florida, which has districts with tens of thousands more students than the other finalists.

`LIFETIME DREAM'

''I'm ecstatic,'' Notter said. ``It is really a lifetime dream for a large urban school system. The Broad Foundation was the one that sought us out by crunching the numbers. It's totally an independent analysis -- not your best grant writer's work.''

Now that Miami-Dade and Broward have proven worthy of being finalists, a jury of former governors, federal education secretaries and university presidents will dig deeper to choose a winner. Aside from student achievement, they will consider school district leadership, finances, planning and governance.

Miami-Dade and Broward are competing against a school district in Long Beach, Calif., and the Aldine and Brownsville school districts in Texas.

ROLE MODEL

The Brownsville district was just recognized by the National School Boards Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education for demonstrating progress in educating children and being a role model in school board governance.

At the same time, Miami-Dade's past year -- and in particular the last few months -- have been marked by political missteps and multiple public relations messes.

The district ended the 2007-08 fiscal year $66.5 million over budget, nearly depleting its reserves. This is the second year the district dipped into rainy day money to balance the budget.

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