There was a bit of a delayed reaction when the recipient of the nation's largest education award — the Broad Prize for Urban Education — was given to two school districts instead of one.

Orange County Public Schools and Gwinnett County Public Schools, near Atlanta, both split the $1 million prize.

The announcement was made Monday. Each school district will receive $500,000.

"It really was, um, with the delay on the webcast, you kind of, 'Did we hear that right?'" said James Larsen, executive area director of the Southeast Learning Community.

But as the celebratory cheers came to an end, Larsen said it's back to business and focusing on the students.

Orange County Public Schools received the award as a result of years of hard work. The graduation rate went from below 50 percent to 87 percent.

East Learning County Superintendent Anna Diaz said the increased graduation rate makes free education have a real value.

"The education a kid would get in a private school ... it means that public education in Orange County can break that cycle of poverty," Diaz said.

What's working, Larsen said, is that Orange County is a large district that sees each child individually — meeting with students where they are and diagnosing what's going to help them move forward.

"Sending a child home to do 40 problems is not an appropriate homework assignment when they don't have that scaffolding support at home," Larsen said.

Officials said what happens at home should be a reinforcement of strategies taught during the day. And Monday's announcement reinforces that.

The prize rewards large, urban school districts that show the greatest academic performances and improvement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students.

The $1 million Broad Prize was established in 2002, according to the The Broad Foundations' website.

The two districts — Orange County and Gwinnett County — were picked from a pool of 75 eligible districts.

"I just want you to know that I'm so proud of them," Diaz said. "Because, without them, there would be no us."