Selecting the Teacher of the Year

The Selection process for the Teacher of the Year begins in the fall.  During late November, brochures and applications are mailed to every public school district in the state, each Intermediate Unit, and members of NSTOY-PA Chapter.  The application form and information are also posted on the PDE web site.

The deadline for the first stage of the application is the end of January.  The applications begin arriving in earnest during the final week of January.  The month of February is used to evaluate each applicant’s educational history and professional development, philosophy of teaching, view of the teaching profession, and letters of recommendation.  Scores from this first reading are reported by the end of February.  Semifinalists are notified of their status at the end of the month.  Non-qualifiers are also contacted and encouraged to apply again during another year. 

The semifinalists have the month of March to complete the second phase of the applications.  The second part of the application focused on the applicants’ professional biographies, their community involvement, and their message as a potential state teacher of the year.  These essays are submitted by the end of March and the evaluation of the essays takes place during the month of April.

During early May, the Department of Education along with NSTOY-PA makes the announcement of the twelve finalists for the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.   The finalists then begin work on the final part of the application.  This involves creating a videotape which contains three sections.  The first section is an introduction of the teacher and a description of the lesson, part two is a teaching episode and the final section is a talk to a group of college students to encourage them to become teachers.  The videos are evaluated in June by a committee of six NSTOY members and six PDE employees.  The results are tabulated and a recommendation is made to the Secretary of Education.

The Teacher of the Year is announced at the Teacher of the Year Forum in the fall.