The CEC Teacher of the Year Award
This award recognizes a CEC member teacher who currently provides instruction to students with exceptionalities and is an outstanding member of the profession. His or her work exemplifies the best in special education teaching and reflects significant, documented positive outcomes for students, continued professional development, and the highest standards of educational quality.
Award Details:
The CEC Teacher of the Year Award recognizes a CEC member teacher who currently provides instruction to students with exceptionalities and is an outstanding member of the profession. His or her work exemplifies the best in special education teaching and reflects significant, documented positive outcomes for students, continued professional development, and the highest standards of educational quality.
Nominations may be made by an individual or CEC-affiliated organization (i.e., unit, chapter, division, or subdivision). Self-nominations are not accepted.
Benefits
The Teacher of the Year recipient will be recognized, and receive a commemorative plaque, at an Awards Luncheon on March 2, 2023, during the CEC 2023 Convention & Expo, and will be featured on the CEC website and in Teaching Exceptional Children, our research-to-practice journal.
In addition, the recipient will receive:
- Travel to, hotel accommodations at, and complimentary registration for, the CEC 2023 Convention & Expo, March 1 – 4, 2023, in Louisville, KY.
- A $2,000 cash award
- A $1,000 “use how you choose” classroom grant
CEC would like to thank Let’s Go Learn for its generous sponsorship of the 2023 Teacher of the Year Award.
The CEC Teacher of the Year Award recipient must:
- be a CEC member at the time of nomination and granting of the award and have been a CEC member for at least 5 years (these years of membership may be non-consecutive).
- demonstrate CEC’s core values, which are:
- Visionary Thinking: Demonstrated by forward-thinking and courageous decision making dedicated to excellence and influence in an evolving environment
- Integrity: Demonstrated by ethical, responsive behavior, transparency, and accountability
- Inclusiveness: Demonstrated by a commitment to diversity, caring, and respect for the dignity and worth of all individuals
- currently provide direct services to students with exceptionalities.
- hold professional certification in the area in which he or she provides services.
- engage in work consistent with CEC’s mission statement, as stated above.
Required Materials
The nomination packet is divided into the following sections:
- Nominee’s Work (Responses may be entered online or uploaded).
- Describe how the nominee's instructional practices or programs result in an effective learning environment and how they are appropriate and individualized for students. Include any collaborative efforts with other teachers in which the nominee is involved. (750-word maximum)
- Describe how the nominee provides an engaging environment for diverse students (e.g., different learning styles, exceptionalities, cultural and/or linguistic differences). (750-word maximum)
- Nominee’s Statement (Responses may be entered online or uploaded).
- Describe how CEC has positively benefited your practice and the two most critical issues CEC has helped you overcome. (500-word maximum)
- Nominee’s Statement (Responses may be entered online or uploaded).
- Describe a lesson or unit that defines you as a special education teacher. How did you engage students of all backgrounds and abilities in learning? How did that learning influence your students? How are your beliefs about teaching demonstrated in this lesson or unit? (500-word maximum)
- Resumé or Vitae of Nominee
- Letter of Recommendation
- Please include one letter of recommendation (separate from the nominator) from a colleague, supervisor, or other professionals documenting the nominee’s efforts in meeting the award criteria.
Selection Considerations
• The CEC Honors Committee has the authority to give only one CEC Teacher of the Year Award or opt not to grant the award in any given year • NOTE: With their permission, individuals nominated for this award but who are not selected may be included in the pool of nominees the following year. If the nominator who originally submitted the nomination intends to resubmit it for a second year, they may do so by sending a letter of intent to the Honors Committee Staff Liaison (see below)o. The previous nomination materials can be reused.
Rules and Instructions for Nomination
- All nomination materials must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET, October 18, 2022.
- The nomination form is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TVQBRF2
- Supporting materials may uploaded into the online nomination form as PDF, doc or docx files. If you are unable to upload them, please email them to Sharon Rodriguez.
- Please use the file name to clearly label each section and all nomination materials (e.g., “John_Smith_TOY_Award.doc” or John_Smith_TOY_Nomination_Form.doc”)
- All materials submitted become the property of CEC and will not be returned.
- Posthumous nominations are not accepted.
2023 | Kristie Jo Redfering | View Press Release | |
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2022 |
Kevin Crosby, M.A., |
View Press Release | Watch Video |
2021 | Srinivas Panela, Halifax County Schools, NC |
View Press Release | Watch Video |
2020 | Kelly Grillo | ||
2019 | Shelley Carney | ||
2018 | Sara Klug | ||
2017 | Polly Parrish | ||
2016 | Kathy Boisvert | ||
2015 | Helen T. Pastore | ||
2014 | Danielle Kovach | ||
2013 | Ashley Abercrombie Allardyce | ||
2012 | Hannah F. Ehrli | ||
2011 | Donald R. Devito | ||
2010 | Cyndi M. Chappel | ||
2009 | Gayle Solis Zavala | ||
2008 | Sheila Amato | ||
2007 | Susan Osterhaus | ||
2006 | Connie Miller | ||
2005 | Carol Dinsdale | ||
2004 | Debbie Metcalf | ||
2003 | Jane Humphrey | ||
2002 | Kelli S. Kercher | ||
2001 | Karen Voytecki | ||
2000 | Nancy Barnett | ||
1999 | Pat Beckman | ||
1998 | Terri Chasteen | ||
1997 | Frances B. Dibble | ||
1996 | Donald P. Butzko | ||
1995 | Brenda Jean Rice | ||
1994 | Matty Rodriguez-Walling | ||
1993 | Ann Baker Welch | ||
1992 | Sharon Hagan Gonder | ||
1991 | Muriel Drew Saunders | ||
1990 | Rosalie A. Dibert | ||
1989 | Norma J. Speckhard | ||
1988 | M. Beth Langley | ||
1987 | Mary Eleanor Coffield | ||
1986 | Judy L. Larson | ||
1985 | Mary-Dean Barringer |