School of Education Adjunct Faculty Member, Mr. Steven Gould, Selected for the ABCTE 2011 Florida State Teacher of the Year

Mr. Steven Gould, an adjunct faculty member of the Adrian Dominican School of Education, was recently selected as the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) 2011 Florida State Teacher of the Year.  Mr. Gould is a special education teacher for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at North Miami Middle School.

During the nomination process, Mr. Gould was described as an amazing teacher who has unending patience, understands the needs of his students, and implements many creative activities for his students.

“I believe all students deserve our best every day. I have high expectations for them as well as myself. Great expectations mean success,” said Mr. Gould.

Since 2003, Mr. Gould has been an adjunct faculty member at Barry University. He teaches the Autism Endorsement courses in the Exceptional Student Education Department.

“Mr. Gould is an excellent adjunct instructor, and receives outstanding student evaluations each semester. He brings to the college classroom his many years of practical K-12 classroom experiences, which he shares with his college students and helps them to become both caring and highly effective special education teachers," said Dr. Judy Harris-Looby, Chair of the Exceptional Student Education Department.

The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) is a non-profit organization which was founded in 2001 from a grant provided by the U.S. Dept. of Education. The ABCTE offers a unique opportunity through innovative teacher preparation and certification program for people who want to make a career change to become a teacher.  Principals from the various states in which the program has been accepted, submitted a nomination for their teacher, then finalists were selected, and voting conducted online to determine the state winner.