Georgia Council of Teachers of English finalist for affiliate excellence award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has selected the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE) as one of four 2021 Affiliate Excellence Award honorees, the group announced in a news release.

James L. Hill, former professor of English, dean of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the Department of English, Modern Languages and Mass Communication at Albany State University, is the president of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE). Hill is completing a second two-year term as the GCTE President, and as the group’s president, he has completed the application for the NCTE Affiliate of Excellence Award each year of his tenure as the leader of the organization.

The Affiliate Excellence Award was established in 1996 to honor NCTE affiliates that meet high standards of performance for programming and promote improvement in English language arts teaching.

Qualifications for the award represent standards of excellence to which all NCTE affiliates should aspire, officials with the national council said. Award winners fulfilled at least eight different criteria for excellent affiliate programming during the school year of application. The required criteria include:

♦ Increasing membership in the affiliate or NCTE;

♦ Publishing an affiliate communications instrument at least twice a year;

♦ Conducting at least one professional development program for members;

♦ Completing the annual affiliate report to NCTE by deadline;

♦ Achieving accomplishments such as implementing and maintaining a cultural diversity plan;

♦ Developing a program to encourage new teachers into the profession;

♦ Participating in an NCTE Affiliate Leadership Meeting;

♦ Participating in at least three affiliate-sponsored activities at the NCTE annual convention.

The National Council of Teachers of English is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. For more than 100 years, NCTE has worked with its members to offer journals, publications and resources; to further the voice and expertise of educators as advocates for their students at the local and federal levels; and to share lesson ideas, research, and teaching strategies through its annual convention and other professional learning events.

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