Michigan State University professor of education Joseph Krajcik has received a 2020 Harold W. McGraw Jr. prize for his global impact on science teaching.
Krajcik, the Lappan-Phillips professor of teacher education in MSU's College of Education and director of the CREATE for STEM Institute, has partnered with science teachers around the world to reform student engagement through the design, development and testing of project-based learning environments. Krajcik's McGraw prize recognizes achievement in pre-K-12 education.
“I am honored to receive the McGraw Prize for innovation in education,” Krajcik said. “Throughout my professional life, I have been driven by a passion to work with teachers and other educators to create and explore learning environments that engage all children. I’m dedicated to helping ignite the joy and desire to learn in students in order for all of us to live in a knowledgeable, just and sustainable world.”
Krajcik served as a lead writer of both the National Academies of Science Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. These standards have globally transformed the teaching of science. Other winners include Estela Mara Bensimon, professor of educational equity at the University of Southern California, and Michelene Chi, professor of science and teaching at Arizona State University. Each award winner will receive a $50,000 award and a prize sculpture.
“This year’s prize winners are outstanding leaders who have devoted their careers to closing gaps and accelerating educational opportunity to all students,” said Harold McGraw III, former chairman, CEO and president of The McGraw Hill Companies. “Dr. Krajcik’s innovations to improve science education represent profound and lasting achievements.”
Since 1988, the McGraw Prize has celebrated innovation in education by recognizing outstanding individuals who have dedicated themselves to improving education and whose accomplishments are making a huge impact. The Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education nominees are selected through a public nomination process with winners chosen over three rounds of judging and ultimately by an independent panel of judges who are leaders in their fields. Recent winners include Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code; Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools; and Sal Kahn, founder of Khan Academy.