James R. Squire Award
2023 Recipient: Beverly Ann Chin
University of Montana
Beverly Ann Chin, PhD, is professor emerita of English, former director of the English Teaching Program and the Montana Writing Project, past chair of the English Department, and former director of composition at the University of Montana.
Chin served as president of National Council of Teachers of English, board member of NCTE Middle Level Section Steering Committee, and executive committee member of the Conference on English Leadership and the Conference on English Education (now English Language Arts Teacher Educators).
She was a board member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the senior project consultant for the 2011 and 2015 Writing Frameworks of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Currently, she is vice president of Writing Coaches of Montana, a nonprofit organization of trained community volunteers who mentor students on their writing.
Chin has published many student and teacher programs, including Grammar for Writing (grades 6–12) and Grammar Workshop (grades 3–5) (William H. Sadlier). She served as senior content advisor/web writer for Annenberg Media’s Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades and literary scholar/teacher expert in The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature in the High School.
Chin has been awarded the NCTE Distinguished Service Award, the Richard W. Halle Award for an Outstanding Middle Level Educator, and the Rewey Belle Inglis Award for an Outstanding Woman in English Education. She has also received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Montana Association of Teachers of English Language Arts, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Florida State University College of Education, and the University of Montana Distinguished Teaching Award.
A passionate advocate for mentoring, lifelong learning, and community building, Chin regularly presents at state, national, and international conferences.
“Literacy educators are teachers and leaders who promote the power and importance of oral, written, and media communication. Through our teaching, research, and service, literacy educators inspire learners at all levels of education to grow as critical thinkers and to participate in society as respectful, thoughtful community members. Literacy educators are lifelong learners and mentors. We believe when people share stories, experiences, and perspectives, we discover what is unique and what is universal in our lives. Together, we create a more collaborative, compassionate, and peaceful world.”
Overview:
The James R. Squire Award, formerly called the NCTE Executive Committee Award, was established in 1967. In 1999, the Executive Committee renamed the award to honor former Executive Secretary James R. Squire for his contributions to NCTE and the profession at large.
This award is given by the Executive Committee in recognition of outstanding service, not only to the stature and development of NCTE and the discipline which it represents, but also to the profession of education as a whole, internationally as well as nationally.
Criteria:
The James R. Squire Award is a special award given to an NCTE member who has had a transforming influence and has made a lasting intellectual contribution to the profession. We remind nominators, nominees, and selection committee members that members of NCTE Conferences—CCCC, CEL, ELATE, LLA, and TYCA—are members, by definition, of NCTE.
Current NCTE Executive Committee members are not eligible for this award. Recipients of this award are not eligible to receive any other Executive Committee approved awards in the same year, nor in the following year.
The NCTE James R. Squire Award does not need to be awarded each year. This award should be bestowed only when the subcommittee decides that nominations warrant presentation of the award. Only one recipient will be selected each year.
Selection Committee:
The selection committee will consist of the immediate Past President and a committee of three Past Presidents of the Council appointed by the immediate Past President.
The selection committee welcomes nominations from NCTE members.
The James R. Squire award selection committee will select an award recipient, and the Executive Committee will approve the committee’s selection at an Executive Committee meeting.
Award:
The recipient is honored at the NCTE Awards Session and receives a commemorative piece, a complimentary NCTE lifetime membership, and the following travel expenses paid to attend the NCTE Annual Convention: airfare, two hotel room nights, and three days’ meals reimbursement.
Application Deadline: May 1
Please contact NCTEAwards@ncte.org with any questions.
2024 NCTE James R. Squire Award Application
Please note that questions marked with an asterisk are required; unmarked questions are optional. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2024.
James R. Squire Award Previous Recipients
2022 Carol Jago
2021 Carol D. Lee
2020 Linda Flower
2019 Kathleen Blake Yancey
2018 Charles (Chuck) Bazerman
2017 Sonia Nieto
2016 Arthur N. Applebee (posthumously) and Jerome C. Harste
2015 Kent D. Williamson (posthumously)
2014 Yetta M. Goodman
2013 Rudine Sims Bishop
2012 Miles Myers
2011 George Hillocks Jr.
2010 Mike Rose
2009 Frank Smith
2008 Donald H. Graves
2007 Kenneth S. Goodman
2006 Janet Emig
2005 Geneva Smitherman
2004 Courtney Cazden
2003 Shirley Brice Heath
2002 Louise Rosenblatt
2001 Peter Elbow
1999 Edmund J. Farrell
1980 Robert F. Hogan
1974 John Gerber
1971 J. N. Hook
1967 James R. Squire