TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, has opened the application period for the 2013 Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice. The prestigious award is given to no more than five public school teachers a year who demonstrate exceptionally effective teaching with students from high-poverty communities.
Winners each receive $25,000 – one of the largest monetary awards for practicing teachers in the nation – and a seat in a six-week summer residency with TNTP. Eligible teachers can apply online at tntp.org/fishmanprize.
In 2012, four winners were selected from more than 400 applicants in 39 states. During the summer, the winners traveled to New Orleans, New York, and Washington, DC, to reflect critically on their classroom practices, converse with education leaders including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and write Unlocking Student Effort, a collection of personal essays on the practice of effective teaching.
“There is this fire that has ignited a teacher leader voice within me that can no longer be contained,” said Leslie Ross, one of the 2012 winners and 9th grade Biology teacher in Greensboro, NC. “I have learned so much from my fellow winners, and I realize that these types of interactions must occur more frequently among our best and brightest teachers. I am a better teacher this year, having gone through this process.”
This year, TNTP is offering an early application deadline of Monday, December 3, 2012. Early applicants will learn whether they have been selected for the next application stage about a month before other applicants. The final deadline is Monday, January 14, 2013.
For more information on how to apply or to refer a great teacher for the Fishman Prize, please visit tntp.org/fishmanprize.
