Published: April 23, 2014

The Society of Professors of Education selected the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), housed in the School of Education and led by Professor Kevin Welner, as the 2014 winner of the Wisniewski Award. The award is given annually to an institution which has made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of teacher education.  

The Society of Professors of Education (SPE) was founded in 1902 by members such as John Dewey and Charles De Garmo.

Award Chair Nancy Brooks, Professor of Educational Studies at Ball State University, stated, "As professors of education we in the SPE are well aware of the need for change in teacher preparation, but we are dismayed at the direction that some alternative routes have taken. While we believe all of NEPC's work addresses concerns of the the Society, we see recent NEPC publications such as those by Milner (2013) and Heilig and Jez (2014) as exemplifying critical contributions to the field of teacher education. We consider the work of the Center to be vitally important."

Bill Mathis, Managing Director of NEPC, accepted the award at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) held in April in Philadelphia.

Related Faculty: Kevin Welner, William Mathis, Alex Molnar, Gene V. Glass