Awards

Each year NCTE celebrates more than 90 different awards across our various constituencies.

These awards shine a light on the exceptional work of our educators and students and offer myriad opportunities to recognize and elevate what makes the teaching and learning of English language arts so powerful.

Upcoming Awards

February 15

Achievement Awards in Writing

The 2026 prompt is “The Joy and Power of Reading”. 10th and 11th grade students are eligible to participate in this award. Applications are submitted by teachers.

Promising Young Writers Award
The 2026 prompt is “Good Trouble”. 8th grade students are eligible to participate in this award.

March 1

David H. Russell Award

This award recognizes published research in language, literature, rhetoric, teaching procedures, or cognitive processes that may sharpen the teaching or the content of English at any level.

March 15

Early Career Educators of Color Leadership Award

The specific purpose of this program is to support early career teachers of color as they build accomplished teaching careers in literacy education. Practicing preK to university-level literacy educators of color who are in the first five years of a paid teaching career and who aspire to build a career in literacy education may apply.

May 1

James R. Squire Award

Established in 1967, this award recognized outstanding service to the stature and development of NCTE and ELA education, as well as the education profession as a whole, in the U.S. and internationally. Awardees are honored by a selection committee of NCTE Past Presidents.

NCTE LGBTQIA+ Advocacy & Leadership Award

This award recognizes a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who has made a significant contribution to NCTE through service, scholarship, and actions that promote and support the advancement of the LGBTQIA+ community in the profession, in literacy-related activities, and in public engagement.

NCTE Advancement of People of Color Leadership Award

This award is given to an NCTE member of color who has made a significant contribution to NCTE and the development of our professional community. It supports members who advocate for policies and practices that influence and advance the understanding of equity and antiracism.

NCTE Leadership Award for People with Disabilities

This award recognizes a person with a disability who has made a significant contribution to NCTE and to the development of our professional community. Recipients promote and support the advancement of people with disabilities in our profession through their service, writing, teaching, scholarship, and professional development.

Media Literacy Award

This award showcases NCTE members who have developed innovative approaches for integrating media analysis and composition into their instruction.

NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award

Established in 1997 by NCTE and Support for the Learning and Teaching of English (SLATE)–this award is given to a person, groups, or institutions for advancing the cause of intellectual freedom. A subcommittee of the NCTE Committee Against Censorship selects the recipients.

Berry Research Award to Study Careers of English Majors

The Berry Research Award to Study Careers of English Majors supports NCTE members in the teaching, learning, and application of literacy learning. It provides research support for NCTE members who propose a research project that studies “the careers of English Majors and/or the role and function of English in career development.”

George Orwell Award

The NCTE George Orwell Award, established in 1975 and administered by the NCTE Public Language Award Committee, recognizes people who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.

Ongoing

Children’s Book Awards nominations are accepted each year for the Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction, the Orbis Pictus Award® for nonfiction, and the Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels list.