Heinemann today announced that Professional Books author Dr. Kylene Beers will receive the James R. Squire Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The award will be presented at NCTE’s Annual Conference, taking place in Boston, MA from November 21-24, 2024.
The James R. Squire Award (formerly called the NCTE Executive Committee Award) was established in 1967 and recognizes outstanding service to the stature and development of NCTE and the discipline which it represents, and to education as a whole. This special award is given to an individual who has had a transforming influence and has made a lasting intellectual contribution to the profession.
“Heinemann has been proud to publish Kylene Beers’ professional books for more than two decades,” said Maggie DeMont, general manager of Heinemann. “She has been a guiding force in the industry, both advocating for teachers and helping students in the classroom to learn and grow. We’re delighted to congratulate her and join NCTE in recognizing the far-reaching impact of Kylene’s work—a well-deserved honor for such a dedicated teacher.”
Dr. Beers is the author or co-author of many acclaimed books including Disrupting Thinking, Reading Nonfiction and Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. A second edition of her bestselling title When Kids Can’t Read was released in 2023.
For more information about Heinemann’s resources for teachers, please visit Heinemann.com/teacherresources.
About Dr. Kylene Beers
Dr. Kylene Beers is currently an international literacy consultant and previously was a Senior Reading Researcher at the Comer School Development Program at Yale University. She began her career as a middle school language arts teacher outside of Houston, TX.
Kylene has served on committees with the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English and is an often-invited keynote speaker to national and state conventions. She has served as editor of the national literacy journal Voices from the Middle, chair of the National Literacy Coalition, invited special assistant to the National Governor’s Association committee on education and special consultant to the State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards of the Council of State Chief School Officers. She was president of the National Council of Teachers of English and has served on the international LitWorld Foundation advisory board. She is a recipient of the NCTE CEL Leadership Award and the NCTE Richard Halle Award for Outstanding Contributions to Literacy Education at the Middle Grades.
Most importantly, Kylene is a teacher who continues to work in classrooms today across the nation as she works shoulder-to-shoulder with teachers and students. When not on an airplane, Kylene lives on her ranch with her husband, Brad, in central Texas.
