2021 NIET Founder’s Award Finalists from Arizona, Indiana, and Louisiana, Receive $10,000

The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) celebrated the four finalists of the 2021 Founder's Award today and awarded each $10,000 for their work to prioritize instructional excellence to improve student achievement. Douglas MacArthur Elementary School in Perry Township Schools, Indiana, received the $50,000 grand prize.

The finalists were honored at a virtual recognition event during the NIET National Conference, attended by more than 1,200 educators and leaders from across the country. The schools are:

• Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, Perry Township Schools, Indiana
• Michael Anderson School, Avondale Elementary School District, Arizona
• North DeSoto High School, DeSoto Parish Schools, Louisiana
• Prairie View Elementary School, Goshen Community Schools, Indiana

"Outstanding educators are the bedrock of our nation's schools. When we create powerful opportunities for them to lead and thrive, everyone benefits," said NIET Chairman and Founder Lowell Milken. "Douglas MacArthur, Michael Anderson, North DeSoto High, and Prairie View are models for their states and the nation, and demonstrate real promise for ensuring that every student can be matched with an effective educator every day."

For 20 years, NIET has partnered with schools, districts, states, and universities to ensure all students have effective educators. Its work has served more than 9,000 schools and has impacted more than 275,000 teachers and 2.75 million students.

NIET's partner schools have shown success by both outperforming similar schools and having greater teacher retention. Schools including the award finalists have continued to advance during the pandemic through the use of NIET's new tools and resources to accommodate virtual instruction, support from expert leaders and trainers, and access to a large network of educators united around shared learning.

The Founder's Award was created by Lowell Milken to honor one school annually for exceptional implementation of NIET's principles to build educator excellence and advance student success. Founder's Award recipients are selected by NIET based on their efforts to make instructional excellence the cornerstone of school improvement; plan for regular professional learning focused on real-time needs of teachers and students; create a culture of collaboration and reflection; and leverage teacher leaders and administrators to drive student growth.

To access a video of the award ceremony, images and more information about the finalists and NIET, visit the NIET newsroom. For interviews, please contact Jana Rausch at jrausch@niet.org or (310) 435-9259. Learn more about the conference at www.niet.org and follow news on Facebook and Twitter @NIETteach, or via #NIET2021.