Eight U.S. teachers have made the top 50 shortlisted nominations for the second annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2016.

Referred to as the Nobel Prize for teaching, winners of the award will also receive a $1 million prize, the largest prize of its kind according to the Varkey Foundation.

From this list of 50 shortlisted teachers, a Prize Committee will announce the final ten teachers in February 2016 with the winner being announced in March at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai.

The eight U.S. teachers still in the running for the prize after being narrowed down from a pool of 8,000 nominations and applications from 148 countries are:

• Linda Cliatt-Wayman from Strawberry Mansion High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
• Joe Fatheree from Effingham High School, Effingham, Illinois;
• Aris Pangilinan from Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS), Washington, DC;
• Ron Clark from The Ron Clark Academy, Atlanta, Georgia;
• Nadia Lopez from Mott Hall Bridges Academy, Brooklyn, NY;
• Liviu Haiducu from Avon Community School Corporation, Avon, Indiana;
• Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis from Classes 4 Classes, Monroe, Connecticut;
• Michael Soskil from Wallenpaupack South Elementary School, Newfoundland, Pennsylvania.

According to the foundation, the teachers on the list were selected for having recognition from the school and community, innovative instructional practices, tangible student learning outcomes and "[a]chievements in the community beyond the classroom that provide unique and distinguished models of excellence for the teaching profession and others,” among other things.

The winner of the first Global Teacher Prize last year was U.S. teacher Nancie Attwell from Maine, who said of the prize:

“I'm honored and proud to receive the Global Teacher Prize. I love my teaching life - the intellectual, social, and personal challenges of working with young people and the satisfaction of developing methods that transform their lives and give them perspective on the lives of others. I am grateful to the Varkey Foundation for shining a light on teaching as a powerful profession, one of fulfillment, creativity, and lasting worth.”

Indeed, the Varkey Foundation hopes the prize will further its efforts to spark public discourse about the importance of teachers. In 2013, it published the first ever Global Teacher Status Index which compared attitudes towards teachers in 21 countries.

"Commissioned by the Varkey Foundation and published in 2013, the study found that the US was ranked in the middle of the index,” the foundation said in a press release.

Read more about the Global Teacher Prize here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

12/9/2015