RESOURCES

If selected as a Fellow, you will receive:

• A $3,000 stipend upon completion of the program
• A $2,000 book buying & shipping budget
• Participation in a professional learning community with other Fellows, as well as professional authors, National Book Foundation staff, and others.
• Round-trip economy airfare, two nights of hotel accommodations, and a daily travel stipend to attend the final in-person cohort meeting and the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 celebration in May/June 2024 (exact date TBD; Fellows located locally in NYC or tri-state area will be provided with alternate travel accommodations, as appropriate).

Note: other than the May/June convening in NYC, all cohort activities will take place virtually.

EXPECTATIONS

If selected as a Fellow, you are expected to:

• Attend all virtual cohort convenings (see Program Timeline below)
• Watch the 2023 National Book Award Teen Press Conference on November 14, 2023 with a group of students (livestreamed, recorded, or in-person if local to NYC)
• Attend a one day in-person convening in NYC in May/June 2024
• Share a 15-minute presentation about your project with the NBF Teacher Fellowship cohort
• Submit a mid-program report in December 2023 and a final report in April 2024
• Ensure that books purchased as part of the program become property of participating Fellow and/or participating students; Fellow must notify NBF if changing schools mid-project
• Provide NBF with materials (eg, photos, videos, quotes) to support NBF Teacher Fellowship-related marketing efforts as requested
• Maintain regular and timely email communication with National Book Foundation staff
  

ELIGIBILITY

APPLICANT

• 6th-12th grade teacher currently working in a US-based public school
• Beginning their 3rd year of teaching (or more) by fall 2023
• Able to receive sign off from supervising principal (following conditional acceptance)

PROJECT

In line with the overall goals of the NBF Teacher Fellowship, proposed projects should:

• Make reading for pleasure a part of students’ school day experience
• Include classroom activities that positively impact students’ development as lifelong readers
• Model creative and effective approaches to independent reading instruction
• Connect more young people with great literature through National Book Award-honored titles, and specifically, incorporate at least one 2023 National Book Award Longlisted book into classroom curriculum

Additionally: Activities must be offered at no financial cost to participating students.

NBF welcomes creative, innovative, and diverse approaches to engaging students with reading for pleasure during the school day; the National Book Foundation aims to support the excellent work of teachers, and therefore is not providing a prescriptive approach to projects. In your application, you should be sure to clearly explain how your project meets the overall goals of the NBF Teacher Fellowship, as outlined above, and articulate why it’s an effective approach for your students.

KEY DATES

APPLICATIONS

• Wednesday, March 1, 2023: Applications open
• Thursday, April 13, 2023, 8pm ET: Applications close
• Early June 2023: Notifications

PROGRAM

Program runs throughout the 2023/24 school year, September through June. All dates subject to change at the discretion of NBF. Selected Fellows will receive a full, detailed schedule of activities and deadlines upon acceptance.

• September 27, 2023, 7pm-9pm ET: Cohort Meeting #1
• November 14, 2023, Fellows and their students participate in National Book Awards Teen Press Conference (virtually or in-person)
• December 6, 2023, 7pm-9pm ET: Cohort Meeting #2
• March 6, 2024, 7pm-9pm ET: Cohort Meeting #3
• Late May/June, date TBD: NYC convening (Cohort Meeting #4 & 5 Under 35 Celebration)

Application Instructions

Applications for the 2023/24 National Book Foundation Teacher Fellowship will open March 1, 2023; online applications will be available under the “Application” tab on this page.

Deadline for application submission is April 13, 2023 at 8:00 pm ET.

Please be sure you carefully review the Program Details & Eligibility information before completing the application.

Application components include:

Applicant information:

• Basic contact information
• A brief personal statement that describes yourself and your relationship to books and reading, both as an individual and as an educator (500 words max)
• Optional demographic survey. Across activities, the National Book Foundation strives to build an inclusive culture that respects diverse perspectives in all our work. To further such efforts, it is encouraged (though not required) for applicants to fill out the optional demographic survey section of the NBF Teacher Fellowship application.
  

School and student information, including:

• Brief description of the student body (500 words max)
• Contact information for supervising principal
  

Proposed project details, including:

• A narrative description (1000 words max) that addresses the following points
  • How does your project promote reading for pleasure?
  • What is the basic structure / approach of your project?
  • What is your book selection process?
  • How will you incorporate a connection to the National Book Awards?

• The application will also ask:
  • Does your project meet your grade level’s Common Core ELA standard 10 for Reading Literature?
  • How will books be used (classroom copies, home ownership by students, etc.)?
  • 3-5 sample titles your proposed project will incorporate
  • Any additional information not captured in the application that you feel is pertinent to understanding your proposed project (250 words max)

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Selection Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by an external Selection Committee of teachers, writers, and other experts in the fields of literary and educational youth programming who will rank applications and identify a pool of finalists. This pool will then be vetted collaboratively by the Selection Committee and NBF staff in order to select the cohort of Fellows. If a consensus is not reached, NBF staff reserves the right to make final decisions on cohort selection.

The National Book Foundation expects to be able to support eight Fellows during the 2023/24 school year.

NBF welcomes creative, innovative, and diverse approaches to engaging students with reading for pleasure during the school day; the National Book Foundation aims to support the excellent work of teachers, and therefore is not providing a prescriptive approach to projects. In your application, you should be sure to clearly explain how your project meets the overall goals of the NBF Teacher Fellowship and articulate why it’s an effective approach for your students.

Selection Committee members will be asked to consider the following when reviewing applications:

• Does the submitted project clearly support students in reading for pleasure?
• Does the applicant provide a clear articulation of the project’s structure, implementation, and feasibility?
• Does the project appropriately integrate National Book Award-honored titles?
• How does the individual project fit into the larger cohort in terms of representation of grade level, subject area, geographic, and other demographic diversity?

Please keep in mind that applicants/projects will be selected based on their individual merits and as part of a larger cohort.

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Questions about the application process should be sent to Jordan Smith, jsmith@nationalbook.org. Technical questions should be emailed to Meredith Andrews, mandrews@nationalbook.org.

 

Applications for the 2023/24 National Book Foundation Teacher Fellowship are now closed.

Notifications will be sent in early June. If you have any questions, please reach out to Deputy Director Jordan Smith at jsmith@nationalbook.org.