Ernest Morrell, the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education, associate dean for the humanities and faculty development in the College of Arts & Letters, and director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education in the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI), will receive the 2025 James R. Squire Award for his long-lasting impact on English language arts education.
The prestigious award, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and named after former executive secretary James R. Squire, recognizes those whose service and scholarship have had a transforming influence and have made a lasting intellectual contribution to English language arts education. It has only been awarded 31 times since its inception in 1967.
“When I first entered an English classroom as a teacher in 1993, I never imagined that my life in English would take me in so many directions or that I would be talking about accepting the Squire Award,” Morrell said. “My research and teaching have always been driven by a desire to connect the discipline I love with the students and teachers I also love.”
Morrell, a professor of English and Africana studies, is an internationally recognized literacy scholar whose research explores how the use of popular culture in the classroom can successfully engage urban youth and communities, and on translanguaging — the idea that students can maximize their learning by using the many different languages they use in their everyday lives. The impact of his work was featured in Notre Dame’s award-winning “What Would You Fight For” series on NBC in 2021.
Morrell is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, leads the NCTE James R. Squire Office for Policy Research, and is a past president of NCTE. He has also authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Best Practices in Literacy Instruction (7th Ed.), Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community, and Every Child a Super Reader.
“Ernest has transformed the field of English language arts education,” said Matthew Kloser, the Hackett Family Director of IEI. “As a scholar, mentor, and leader, he has brought the literacies of young people — their languages, cultures, and lived realities — into the heart of rigorous research and practice.”
Morrell will be honored on Nov. 22 at the awards session at the 115th NCTE Annual Convention in Denver.
“I could not be more proud or humbled to accept this award and to share this moment with my academic home, Notre Dame,” Morrell said.
Originally published by at al.nd.edu on September 25, 2025.