Florence Steiner Award

Leadership in K-12 World Language Education

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ACTFL Florence Steiner Award for Leadership in World Language Education (K-12)

Florence Steiner
Florence Steiner

The Florence Steiner Award honors the memory of a teacher, department chair, professional speaker, and ACTFL President-Elect who was widely known and appreciated for her professional knowledge, her ability to communicate with teachers, and her wit. Working from her position as World Language Department Chair in the Glenbrook, Illinois, Public Schools, she inspired a generation of world language teachers and challenged them to improve their teaching through better communication of the goals and outcomes of second language education with the public, administrators, colleagues, and students.

The Florence Steiner Award for Leadership in World Language Education was originally supported by the generosity of the Illinois Foreign Language Teachers Association (IFLTA). Each recipient will receive a $500 honorarium provided by ACTFL.

Procedures for Nomination

  1. The nomination dossier must include the following documents (in order):
    1. A cover letter introducing the nominee and other dossier materials to follow, signed by nominator or by self-nominee (not to exceed 500 words).
    2. Curriculum vitae of the nominee (not to exceed 10 pages or 4500 words).
    3. A narrative addressing the award criteria (not to exceed 4500 words).
    4. Letters of support – maximum of 3; including but not limited to colleagues, supervisors, current or former students, and administrators.
    5. Other supporting documentation not to exceed 10 pages or 4500 words (e.g., photos, artifacts, articles, etc.) that documents the nominee’s special honors and awards, innovative curricular programs the nominee has developed, and evidence of leadership in world language education (see rubric for specific criteria and indicators); supporting materials may include links to video and audio files.
  2. Complete nomination dossiers must be submitted through the online form in one PDF file by the deadline.

NOTE: No member or officer of the ACTFL or Language Connects Foundation Board of Directors may write a letter of support for any award nominee or actively shepherd the nomination of an award nominee. No member or officer of the ACTFL or Language Connects Foundation Board of Directors, or ACTFL employee is eligible for nomination for any award while holding these positions.

Procedures for the Selection Committee

  1. The award Selection Committee will be co-chaired by a member of ACTFL, invited by the current ACTFL President.
  2. Committee members will be selected from those that apply as volunteers.
  3. Committee members rate and rank the dossiers using the award rubric and return their ratings and rankings to the Committee Chair or Co-Chairs by an agreed upon date.
  4. The Committee may meet as many times as needed to decide on the award recipient.
  5. At the discretion of the Committee, the award may or may not be presented during a given year.
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Florence Steiner Award Rubric

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