Awards

NCTE Richard W. Halle Award

for Outstanding Middle Level Educator

2026 Winners: Shanetia P. Clark, Robyn Seglem, and Matt Skillen

Shanetia P. Clark, PhD, is Professor of Literacy in the Early and Elementary Education Department at Salisbury University. Before joining the university faculty, she taught middle school English in Richmond, VA, and served as Site Director of the Capital Area Writing Project. Her scholarship focuses on children’s and young adult literature, aesthetic  experiences in reading and writing classrooms, and writing pedagogy. Dr. Clark teaches courses in children’s literature, creative arts in literacy, language arts methods, and social studies methods while also supervising teacher interns. She previously served as coeditor of Voices from the Middle, NCTE’s peer-reviewed journal for middle-level literacy educators and scholars.

Dr. Matt Skillen currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at McPherson College in McPherson, KS. Throughout his career, he has committed himself to creating the best conditions possible for teaching and learning. He began his career as a seventh- and eighth- grade language arts teacher at Maize South Middle School in Maize, KS. He later became a teacher educator working at both Kansas State University and Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Skillen would like to thank Rebekah, Wyatt, and Mabel for their love and support.

Award Details

Nominations are not accepted for this award.

Purpose:
To honor a junior high/middle level educator who has worked to promote understanding of the developmental needs and characteristics of young adolescents, especially in the English language arts.

Eligibility:
A “middle level educator” is defined as anyone who has worked to improve schools and schooling for the middle level—teacher, principal, curriculum specialist, or supervisor as well as anyone at the university or college level—not necessarily a classroom teacher.

Award Criteria:

• Encouraging a spirit of inquiry and development of critical and creative thinking within the profession;
• Showing evidence of exemplary professional involvement, including participation in activities such as workshops, curriculum development, and association programs and projects;
• Connecting the classroom and the community;
• Fostering the development of literacy education at the middle level;
• Promoting research on the middle level student.

Award Specifics:
The award recipient is presented a plaque at the Middle Level Luncheon during the NCTE Annual Convention.

Established in 1996 by the Junior High/Middle School Assembly, this award honors Richard “Dick” Halle for his dedication to the Assembly and middle level education. The award became a Middle Level Section Award in February 2002 when the Assembly was dissolved.

Learn about the Junior High/Middle School Assembly, Halle Award, and the creation of the Middle Level Section in “Honoring the Past; Looking to the Future.”

Judging:
The Middle Level Section Steering Committee determines the winner based upon candidates meeting the criteria by June 1. Middle Level Section Steering Committee members are not eligible for this award during their tenure.