(Harrisburg, PA) — Dr. Joseph S. Yarworth, assistant professor of education at Albright College, has been selected to receive the prestigious Educational Excellence Award for 2008 from the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PA Principals Association). Dr. Yarworth will be presented with the award during the annual banquet held in conjunction with the PA Principals Association’s 16th Annual State Conference on Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pittsburgh.

The award is given to a person who has been a “friend of public education,” and who has made significant contributions to the attainment of educational excellence in the Commonwealth’s elementary and secondary schools.

Dr. Yarworth’s distinguished 35-year career in education has included time as a language teacher, guidance counselor, school superintendent and college professor. He presented at several PA Principals Association Principals’ Leadership Academies and various workshops on testing and job satisfaction for the association. He also facilitated PA Principals Association’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Task Force and produced the position paper, “No Child Left Behind Reauthorization.” He is currently facilitating the association’s High Stakes Testing Task Force and developing a white paper, which will be published in the fall. He has written more than a dozen journal articles in publications such as the Journal of Educational Psychology, and has taught seminars on testing and assessment for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

“I am deeply honored by the association’s recognition,” Dr. Yarworth said. “I consider the principalship to be the most important position in school management. Principals organize and manage their schools. With the faculty they provide the leadership needed to enact the academic standards and create an atmosphere that defines achievement for the students. Without their leadership, it is not possible to have a successful school. It has been my pleasure to work with PA Principals Association as a superintendent, a professor and a facilitator over many years.” 

He was featured in the October 2008 edition of the American Association of School Administrator’s publication, The School Administrator, for his role in fighting censorship and protecting the rights of teachers and principals to select and recommend texts for use in public schools.

After serving as superintendent for 15 years at Muhlenberg and Schuylkill Valley school districts, Dr. Yarworth landed a position as assistant professor of education at Albright College. He also taught graduate courses in curriculum, assessment and administration for Bucknell University, Lehigh University and Wilkes University.

He served in Vietnam as a military training adviser from 1970-1971.

For more information or to schedule an interview or photo, please contact Sheri Thompson, PA Principals Association director of communications, at (717) 732-4999 (office),
(717) 395-6814 (cell) or e-mail: sherit@paprincipals.org.

PA Principals Association’s Mission
Assure a quality education for every child in Pennsylvania by comprehensively supporting the educational leaders in our schools.

PA Principals Association’s Vision
To be the best service organization of its kind in the United States.