Heinemann Author Nancie Atwell Finalist for $1 Million Global Teacher Prize

Heinemann, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt based in Portsmouth, is pleased to announce that Nancie Atwell, author of In the Middle, is one of ten finalists for the inaugural $1 million Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize. Considered by some to be “the Nobel Prize for teaching,” it will be given to an exceptional educator who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of learning.

Atwell and the other finalists were selected from a shortlist of 50 teachers following a yearlong nomination process that included over 5,000 candidates representing more than 100 countries. She will travel to Dubai for a prestigious award ceremony on March 15th, where the finalists will be celebrated and the winner announced by Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation, in front of world education leaders. If chosen as the winner, Atwell has pledged to donate the award to the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine, which she founded in 1990 and where she teaches writing, reading, and history.

Nancie Atwell is a highly respected educator in both the U.S. and abroad and has been a teacher since 1973. She has authored nine books, including In the Middle, which has influenced hundreds of thousands of teachers since its initial publication in 1987. Now in its third edition, In The Middle is considered one of the definitive titles on teaching literacy. Atwell has received the National Council of Teachers of English’s David H. Russell Award, the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize, and River of Words’ 2010 Teacher of the Year.

“I am convinced that teaching language arts is one of the great careers, demanding of time and energy, but meaning-filled, worthwhile, and interesting,” said Nancie Atwell. “I get to demonstrate what is possible, teach what is useful, establish conditions that invite engagement, support the hard work of literary reading and writing, and enjoy the kinds of relationships with adolescents that drew me to education in the first place.”

“The Global Teacher’s Prize is a strong advocate for the professionalism of teaching,” said Vicki Boyd, Acting President, Heinemann. “Nancie Atwell’s nomination celebrates an innovative instructional approach that is child-centric and engages students in authentic reading and writing, which together build critical thinking skills and a stronger learning experience.”