Letters were mailed to all student participants and recognition certificates were mailed to school principals on September 20, 2011.
A total of 543 students were selected as outstanding writers in the 2011 NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing. The recipients were chosen from 1,649 students nominated in their junior year by their teachers, from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, the Virgin Islands, and American schools abroad. The number of nominees from each school is based on the school’s total enrollment in grades ten through twelve: one nominee per 500 students. The number of winners from each state is determined by doubling the number of the state’s representatives in Congress. A state may fall below its designated number of winners if there are fewer outstanding entries than the state is allowed.
2011 Students Receiving Certificates of Recognition
Click the links below for each state.
ALABAMA | MISSISSIPPI |
ALASKA | MONTANA |
AMERICAN SCHOOLS ABROAD | NEBRASKA |
ARIZONA | NEVADA |
ARKANSAS | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
CALIFORNIA | NEW JERSEY |
CANADA - no winners | NEW MEXICO |
COLORADO | NEW YORK |
CONNECTICUT | NORTH CAROLINA |
DELAWARE | NORTH DAKOTA |
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - no winners | OHIO |
| FLORIDA | OKLAHOMA |
GEORGIA | OREGON |
HAWAII | PENNSYLVANIA |
| IDAHO | RHODE ISLAND |
ILLINOIS | SOUTH CAROLINA |
INDIANA | SOUTH DAKOTA - no entries |
| IOWA | TENNESSEE |
KANSAS | TEXAS |
KENTUCKY | UTAH |
LOUISIANA | VERMONT - no winners |
| MAINE - no winners | VIRGIN ISLANDS |
MARYLAND | VIRGINIA |
MASSACHUSETTS | WASHINGTON |
MICHIGAN | WEST VIRGINIA |
MINNESOTA | WISCONSIN |
MISSOURI | WYOMING |
The Achievement Awards in Writing are conferred by the National Council of Teachers of English in recognition of excellence in writing by high school juniors. Winners demonstrate writing ability in two forms: first, in a sample of their best writing, in any form or genre, drafted and revised over time; and second, in an impromptu essay on a subject set by the Achievement Awards Advisory Committee and responded to by all candidates for the award in that year. While the first sample is written under conditions chosen by candidates and their teachers, the impromptu essay is written during a supervised, seventy-five-minute period.
Like the state coordinators and the teachers of both secondary and college English, who serve as judges, we believe that these students have demonstrated not only superior ability but also notable versatility in writing. We urge that others also recognize and commend these student writers and the teachers who helped to elicit such excellence.
The National Council of Teachers of English and the Achievement Awards in Writing Advisory Committee expresses its appreciation to all who took part in the 2011 Achievement Awards in Writing Program.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program on the NASSP Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities for 2010-2011.