From the NIET Press Release – Goshen Community Schools’ focus on educator excellence and student success was celebrated today when it received a surprise $50,000 award from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET). NIET Founder and Chairman Lowell Milken and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Joshua Barnett surprised Goshen Superintendent Dr. Steve Hope with the District Award of Excellence for Educator Effectiveness during NIET’s national conference in Indianapolis.

The award honors districts that focus on supporting excellent instruction and improving student performance. Goshen was chosen because of its decade-long commitment to investing in educators’ professional growth, fostering teacher leadership, and increasing student success.

“Goshen Community Schools demonstrates a long-standing commitment to building the capacity of educators, driving student learning growth for all,” said NIET Founder Lowell Milken. “We commend Dr. Steve Hope and his leadership team, including many who have advanced through Goshen’s teacher and principal ranks themselves to impact the district at large. Together, they are creating a pipeline of educators who stand ready to prepare generations of students for bright futures.”

“Goshen Community Schools has shown what can happen through a sustained focus on great classroom teaching,” said NIET CEO Dr. Joshua Barnett.

In 2010, Goshen started a partnership with NIET to implement the TAP System for Teacher and Student Advancement, which is a whole-school approach to improving teaching and providing opportunities for teachers to grow as leaders. The TAP System is grounded in research, recognizing that teacher quality is the single biggest in-school factor for student success.

The quality of the instruction provided is evident in Goshen’s graduation rate which increased by five percentage points between 2021 and 2022 and is now over 90%.

“Goshen Community Schools has been in a relationship with NIET for a long time, and that relationship has grown and become stronger and stronger,” said Superintendent Dr. Steve Hope. “We come in with the goal of doing the very best we can for every single student every day because we have a moral, ethical obligation to do that, and we know that can change the trajectory of our student’s lives.”

NIET awarded the first District Award of Excellence for Educator Effectiveness to Perry Township in Indianapolis in 2018. The award is a surprise, with NIET identifying the recipient based on its continued and districtwide success in demonstrating effectiveness in teaching and strengthened outcomes in student learning.