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Joyce Bannerot
2006 Recipient, Bill Ellis Teacher Preparation Award November 2006 -- Joyce Bannerot, from Popham Elementary School in Del Valle, Texas, has been named the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) 2006 Bill Ellis Teacher Preparation Award winner. | 
Joyce Bannerot with NCLD Executive Director Jim Wendorf
| Since 1971, Dr. Bannerot has served as a teacher, program director, and administrator, and she is firmly committed to ensuring that every child in her school has access to high quality instruction in their grade level curriculum. Her efforts have enabled all but a few students with special needs to thrive in mainstream general education classes, and through her leadership, there is a school-wide commitment to using data to support instructional decisions.
As a school leader, Joyce has been a forceful proponent of helping teachers work in close partnership with each other and with researchers from the UT Vaughn-Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts. During the past six years, Popham has been involved in five research studies to better understand how to meet the needs of all students, many of whom struggle with learning. |
From left, Sheldon Horowitz, NCLD Director of Professional Services, NCLD Executive Director Jim Wendorf, 2006 Bill Ellis Award Winner Joyce Bannerot, and IDA President Emerson Dickman
Popham Elementary School serves 860 diverse, high-risk students in grades pre-K-6, with 75% of the student population living below the poverty level and 30% student mobility (students are not enrolled for the entire school year). Despite these challenges, Popham was recognized for Academic Excellence for 2005-2006 by the state accountability system. Dr. Bannerot has implemented a school-wide system of grade level teams who problem-solve and adjust instruction to meet the needs of students not working at grade level expectations. Resources are fluid and ever-changing as the needs of the students change. An effective inclusion model serves more than three-fourths of the school's identified special education students in mainstream classes. After-school tutorials are provided by teachers for all students who need extra assistance. Bannerot attributes her success to her team of highly motivated and effective teachers and staff who make Popham Elementary a positive learning environment. Joyce was an invited speaker at the 2006 American Institutes for Research conference in Washington, D. C. and the Texas Administrator Conference for Reading First Schools. She has most recently spoken about Response to Intervention at a Diversity Conference at the University of Texas in Austin. Jim Wendorf, Executive Director of NCLD, conferred the 2006 Bill Ellis Award at the 57th Annual Conference of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 10, 2006. Along with a cash prize from NCLD and a one-year membership to IDA, Joyce Bannerot received gifts from Kurzweil Educational Systems, Sopris West, and Brookes Publishing. To read an interview with Joyce Bannerot, click here. For information about this and other NCLD awards, visit www.ld.org/awards.
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Scholarship/Awards 
