Nancie Atwell of the Center for Teaching and Learning, a K-8 school in Edgecomb, has been named to the shortlist for a new international teaching prize.

The $1 million Varkey GEMS Foundation Global Teacher Prize will be awarded to one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession. Referred to as the Nobel Prize for teaching, it is the largest award of its kind.

In December, the top 50 teachers were short-listed from over 5,000 nominations from 127 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Kenya, Uganda, India, Canada, Afghanistan, Australia, Spain, Jordan and Denmark.

As the next step in the process, Atwell will be judged by the Global Teacher Prize Committee, who will select 10 finalists.

Then, one winner, to be chosen by the Global Teacher Prize Academy, will be announced at an international education forum in Dubai on March 16.

The academy is made up of educational experts, journalists, public officials, tech entrepreneurs, company directors, and scientists from around the world.

There are seven selection criteria for the Global Teacher Prize:

1. recognition of the teacher’s achievements in the classroom and beyond from pupils, colleagues, or members of the wider community;
2. preparing children to be global citizens in a world where they will encounter people of many religions, cultures, and nationalities;
3. employing innovative, effective instructional practices and achieving demonstrable student learning outcomes;
4. demonstrating leadership that has improved access to quality teaching and education for children of all backgrounds;
5. contributing to public debates on raising the bar of the teaching profession, whether through articles, blogs, media participation or conferences;
6. achieving beyond the classroom by providing unique, distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession; and
7. encouraging others to join the profession.

A teacher since 1973, Atwell founded the Center for Teaching and Learning, a demonstration school where the faculty develops effective methods and shares them with other educators, in 1990.

She is the first classroom teacher to receive the major research awards in the field of English, the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize and the NCTE David H. Russell Award, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of New Hampshire.

She is the author of nine books for teachers including the classic “In the Middle,” now in its third edition, which Thomas Newkirk of UNH calls “the greatest book on literacy teaching ever written in this country.”

Next week, BBC journalist Michael Peschardt will travel from Sydney, Australia to Edgecomb to film Nancie Atwell, her colleagues, and their students, to illustrate the impact she has made on education in the U.S. and beyond.

For more information, contact Scott MacDonald, Head of School, at 207-882-9706, or go to www.globalteacherprize.org.