Skoll Foundation Names Ellen Moir and New Teacher Center for 2011 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Mach 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Skoll Foundation announced this week Ellen Moir, New Teacher Center founder and Chief Executive Officer, as one of four recipients of the 2011 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. Each year the Skoll Foundation chooses a select group of social entrepreneurs and their organizations working around the world in the areas of tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, peace and security, and economic and social equity. Skoll Award recipients receive a three-year grant that provides unrestricted funding to allow social entrepreneurs and their organizations to extend their reach and impact.

"Ellen Moir put her teaching experience to work for all educators," said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. "New Teacher Center's innovative mentoring and training programs are keeping beginning teachers in classrooms where they belong, and helping ensure that state and federal policies line up with the needs of educators and students."

New Teacher Center develops, implements and advocates for comprehensive induction systems for new teachers to improve their effectiveness, retention and leadership and raise student achievement. The organization's goal is to improve student learning by supporting the development of an inspired, dedicated and highly qualified teaching force. It is a leading national nonprofit in the U.S. that is focused on new teacher effectiveness and inducted 26,818 teachers and 1,762 new and experienced principals in 2009-10, reaching 1.84 million students.

"I'm honored to receive this award," states Moir. "The link between social equity and new teachers is clear. Inexperienced new teachers are often disproportionately assigned to hard-to-staff classrooms in urban or rural areas that that serve the most disadvantaged students. Our work to accelerate the effectiveness of those beginning teachers is about ensuring all students are given equal opportunity to succeed."

Along with Ellen Moir, the other 2011 Awardees are: Rebecca Onie/Health Leads, Ned Breslin/Water For People, and Madhav Chavan/Pratham. The Skoll Awards will be presented by Jeff Skoll, Skoll Foundation founder and Chairman, and Sally Osberg, Skoll Foundation President and CEO, on March 31 at the University of Oxford at the eighth annual Skoll World Forum.

Watch a video about the New Teacher Center's impact.

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About New Teacher Center (NTC)

SOURCE New Teacher Center