Get Involved
We are the organization we are today because of the expertise, time, and energy of our members. What role will you play in moving NCTE forward?
Serve
- Achievement Awards in Writing Advisory Committee
- Standing Committee on Affiliates
- Standing Committee Against Censorship
- Build Your Stack® Committee
- NCTE Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children
- NCTE Children’s Poetry Awards Committee
- Standing Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity
- Standing Committee on Global Citizenship
- NCTE Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, + (LGBTQIA+) Advisory Committee
- Standing Committee on Literacy Assessment
- Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children’s Literature Committee
- Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines Committee
- Promising Young Writers Advisory Committee
- Public Language Awards Committee
- Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English
- Standing Committee on Research
- Achievement Awards in Writing Advisory Committee
- Standing Committee on Affiliates
- Standing Committee Against Censorship
- Build Your Stack® Committee
- NCTE Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children
- NCTE Children’s Poetry Awards Committee
- Standing Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity
- Standing Committee on Global Citizenship
- NCTE Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, + (LGBTQIA+) Advisory Committee
- Standing Committee on Literacy Assessment
- Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children’s Literature Committee
- Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines Committee
- Promising Young Writers Advisory Committee
- Public Language Awards Committee
- Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English
- Standing Committee on Research
Public Language Awards Committee
Charge
(Updated May 4, 2022)
The charge of the Public Language Award Committee is to:
- identify, address, and promote interest in and knowledge of language used in public spaces;
- promote discussion of public language use;
- provide awareness of public language education;
- uphold these charges in selecting the recipients of the annual George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language;
- uphold these charges in annually identifying multiple examples of glaringly deceptive language to be known as The Year in Doublespeak;
- uphold these charges by contributing new lesson plans and/or revisions to older contributions to ReadWriteThink, with annually updated positive and negative examples of public language use.
The Public Language Award Committee administered the Doublespeak Award from 1974 to 2020. While the award was sunsetted in 2022, you can view the archive page here.
In addition to the Orwell Award, the Public Language Award Committee will annually produce a list of multiple examples of deceptive language from a public spokesperson or group, The Year in Doublespeak. This list will begin in 2023. In addition to identifying examples, the committee will contribute to NCTE’s ReadWriteThink platform to house peer-reviewed lesson plans and other pedagogical resources that make use of the identified examples. This work will help literacy instructors to continue teaching students about and to participate in public language.
Current Members
CHAIR: Shekema S. Dunlap (2025)
(IFE Academy of Teaching & Technology, Manor, TX)
Antonio Byrd (2025)
(University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO)
Brooke Harris Garad (2025)
(Butler University, Indianapolis, IN)
Jeffrey Krapels (2025)
(Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, Old Tappan, NJ)
Megan K. Mize (2025)
(Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA)
Sarah Richard (2025)
(New York City Department of Education, New York, NY)
Dywanna Smith (2025)
(Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC)
Valerie Taylor (2025)
(The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX)
Natasha Thornton (2025)
(Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA)
Executive Committee Liaison, Rochelle (Shelley) Rodrigo
(University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ)
NCTE Staff, Sarah Miller