The 2021 award nominations window is closed.
The award recipients will be announced this summer. Please email Sara Shelton, director of state relations, with any questions in the meantime.
James Bryant Conant Award
Named for the co-founder of Education Commission of the States and former president of Harvard University, the James Bryant Conant Award recognizes outstanding individual contributions to American education. The award was established in 1977 to memorialize Conant, a pivotal figure in the education reforms of the 1950s and ‘60s that continue to shape schools today. The honor is bestowed upon individuals whose efforts and service have created a pronounced and lasting influence on American education and have demonstrated a commitment to improving education across the country in significant ways such as:
- Provided leadership on groundbreaking task forces or committees.
- Published works and/or conducted research that profoundly influenced thinking on public education in the United States and/or had a substantial impact on policy.
- Shepherded groundbreaking education reform through the legislative process.
Demonstrated exemplary service as a public figure or elected official deeply involved in improving education for all.
Watch a video of Conant, originator of the idea of an interstate compact on education.
2020: Philip Uri Treisman
2019: AJ Crabill
2018: Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam
2017: Lowell Milken
2016: Sal Khan
2015: William Sanders
2014: Marc Tucker
2013: Gene Wilhoit
2012: E.D. Hirsch
2011: Ted Kolderie
2010: Linda Darling-Hammond
2008: Ron Wolk
2007: Gaston Caperton
2006: Nancy S. Grasmick
2005: Sharon Lynn Kagan
2004: Thurgood Marshall
2004: John H. Stelle
2003: Roy Romer
2002: Robert P. Moses
2001: Fred (“Mister”) Rogers
2000: John Goodlad
1999: Frank Newman
1998: Robert Slavin
1997: Claiborne Pell
1996: John W. Gardner
1995: Richard W. Riley
1994: Ernest L. Boyer
1993: Wilhelmina Delco
1992: Theodore R. Sizer
1991: James P. Comer
1990: No Award Given
1989: Fred M. Hechinger
1988: Lamar Alexander
1987: Marian Wright Edelman
1986: Harold Howe II
1985: Terrel H. Bell
1985: David P. Gardner
1984: James B. Hunt Jr.
1983: Carl Perkins
1982: John Brademas
1981: Terry Sanford
1980: Ralph Tyler
1979: Francis Keppel
1978: Joan Ganz Cooney
1977: Benjamin Mays
Frank Newman Award for State Innovation
The Frank Newman Award for State Innovation recognizes states and territories for enacting innovative education reforms or implementing innovative programs that go beyond marginal or incremental changes to improve student outcomes on a large scale. In 2005, the award was renamed in honor of the late Frank Newman, who served as president of Education Commission of the States for 14 years. The award recognizes a state for:
- Education improvement efforts that are replicable and hold valuable lessons for other states.
- Bold and courageous policies, including existing approaches with evidence of significant impact on student achievement in the state.
- Policies or programs that have bipartisan, broad-based support.
Award Winners:
- 2020: Arkansas
- 2019: Idaho
- 2018: Tennessee
- 2017: Hawaii
- 2016: Mississippi
- 2015: Kentucky
- 2014: Illinois
- 2013: Delaware
- 2012: New Hampshire
- 2011: New England Consortium
- 2010: Ohio
- 2009: Tennessee
- 2008: North Dakota
- 2007: Alaska (for multiple initiatives)
- 2006: Kentucky (Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 and other initiatives)
- 2005: Florida and Utah (co-winners, for multiple initiatives)
- 2004: North Carolina (NC TEACH) and South Carolina (The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement)
- 2003: Maryland (Visionary Panel for Better Schools)
- 2002: Alabama (Alabama Reading Initiative) and Texas (Texas Reading Initiative)
- 2001: Georgia – Universal Preschool Program
- 2000: Connecticut – Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program
- 1999: North Carolina – North Carolina Community College System
- 1998: Oregon – Students Recycling Used Technology (STRUT)
Education Commission of the States Corporate Award
The Corporate Award recognizes a for-profit corporation, nonprofit organization or foundation that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to improving public education in the United States. The award was created under the leadership of ECS 1999-2000 Chair, Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer. The Corporate Award is presented to organizations or companies that:
- Support improvement that is consistent with Education Commission of the States’ mission and priorities.
- Support promising practices to improve student outcomes.
- Enjoy broad-based support in the states or communities in which they operate.
Award Winners:
- 2020: Crayola
- 2019: The Tennessee School Boards Association
- 2018: The IBM Foundation
- 2017: Unum
- 2016: Newseum
- 2013: Scholastic
- 2012: GE Foundation
- 2011: ExxonMobil
- 2010: AT&T
- 2009: Project Lead The Way
- 2008: Simon Youth Foundation
- 2007: Pearson
- 2006: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
- 2005: Hewlett Packard Company
- 2004: MBNA Corporation
- 2003: Intel Corporation and Washington Mutual
- 2002: State Farm Insurance Companies
- 2001: MetLife and MetLife Foundation
Education Commission of the States Chair's Award
The Chair of the Education Commission of the States has the discretion during his or her term in office to bestow an award on an individual or group who has had a meaningful impact on the work of the Chair or the organization. As a bipartisan position, various individuals and groups have been given this honor over the years based on different contributions.
Past Award Winners:
- 2013: Get Smart Schools
- 2010: Teach For America
- 2008: Luther Olsen and Richard Rhoda
- 2007: Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ewing Maring Kauffman Foundation and The Wallace Foundation
- 2006: Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
- 2005: Placido Domingo
- 2004: Carl Takamura, Executive Director, Hawaii Business Roundtable
- 2003: Ron Newcomb, Education Assistant to former Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes
- 2002: Miles E. Turner, ECS Commissioner and Steering Committee Member from Wisconsin
- 2001: Ed Ford, Kentucky Deputy Secretary to the Executive Cabinet
- 2000: Ted Stilwill, Iowa Director of Education
- 1999: Ardyce L. Bohlke, Nebraska State Senator
- 1998: David H. Steele, Utah State Senator
- 1997: Howard P. “Pete” Rawlings, Maryland State Representative
- 1996: John Hansen, Idaho State Senator