National Network of State Teachers of the Year Hires Katherine Bassett as Executive Director, Takes New Direction

NNSTOY has hired a new Executive Director, positioning itself to become a leading teacher voice organization working to improve American schools for all students.

Washington, DC (I-Newswire) September 6, 2012 - The National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) announced today that it has hired Katherine Bassett as its new Executive Director. The hire is a major step for NNSTOY, as the organization of acclaimed educators begins a new chapter in its history. Having connected state teachers of the year since the 1980s, NNSTOY recently adopted a new mission and now seeks to amplify the voice of effective teachers and promote teacher leadership as a means to improve America’s schools. As Executive Director, Bassett will lead these efforts.

“NNSTOY could have found no one more capable than Katherine Bassett to lead the organization in its expanded mission to better serve its members and ultimately students in classrooms,” said Jon Quam, Director of the National Teacher of the Year Program at the Council of Chief State School Officers. “Katherine knows schools and the systems designed to maintain and support schools inside and out. Her expansive pedagogical knowledge coupled with just plain street smarts of how to affect change at all levels will serve NNSTOY well.”

“With Katherine as Executive Director,” NNSTOY Board Member Marguerite Izzo added, “NNSTOY is poised to become the leading teacher voice organization in America.”

A former New Jersey state teacher of the year, Bassett spent 26 years in the classroom before taking on a variety of other leadership roles, most recently as Director of Policy and Partnerships for the Center for Educator Effectiveness at Pearson. “Katherine knows well the impact that State Teachers of the Year can have on student success,” said Roger Sampson, President of the Education Commission of the States. “She has been an ongoing mentor to the State Teachers of the Year and a leading force in the development of Teacher Leader Standards, which impact the careers and career ladders of all educators. Her appointment at NNSTOY will be a great benefit to our nation’s teachers.”

NNSTOY was first chartered in 1984 and has since served mainly as a community of learning for teachers of the year, which states and some territories have chosen since 1952. Over the years, NNSTOY has collaborated with other national organizations to spotlight excellence in teaching, engaged in service learning projects, and awarded scholarships to help recruit effective teachers. But as an all-volunteer organization, its direct impact on education policy has been limited. Now it has decided to hire staff and work to improve education, in part by advancing a new vision of the teaching profession.

“In order to drive education transformation that will put every student in the hands of an effective teacher, NNSTOY recognizes that we need to better support today’s teachers while at the same time attracting America's best and brightest to the profession,” said NNSTOY board president Rebecca Snyder. “To do that, we have to provide multiple pathways and opportunities for teachers to grow and lead.”

“I am deeply honored to have been chosen to help NNSTOY serve as a trusted teacher voice on education policy, practice, and advocacy,” said Bassett. “At this pivotal time in American education, we have much work to do to make sure that every student has access to effective teachers, and that those teachers have opportunities to grow and advance in their profession as teacher leaders. NNSTOY is eager to partner with others who share our view of teaching as a true profession.”

The organization is in the process of developing its website. For more information in the interim, please contact Bassett at katherine@nnstoy.org.