Instructional Insights

Arkansas School Named Finalist in Global Education Competition

Vote Today to Help Spotlight Great Work in Arkansas on an International Stage!

Submitted by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching

Arkansas’ Cross County Elementary Technology Academy (CCETA) has been selected as one of 10 finalists in T4 Education’s World’s Best School Prizes in the Overcoming Adversity category. To have the great work happening in Arkansas celebrated at this global level is no small feat, as the competition highlights outstanding schools worldwide and often includes few, if any, schools from the United States.

CCETA is recognized for its dedication to excellence in teaching and learning, as well as its efforts to build resilience and lifelong skills for success among students despite the economic hardships many face. As a school in a rural area with limited access to resources, CCETA has implemented strategies to ensure that its students and educators can thrive, including its long-standing partnership with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) to embed instructional excellence and strengthen the collaboration and support for all educators.

CCETA celebrates tangible, lasting improvements for both the school and community. Over the past five years, the school’s teacher retention rate has reached 96%, thanks to structured mentoring and professional development. The school culture that resulted from embedding core values into daily instruction resulted in enrollment increasing by 18.6% over the past three years, making CCETA the only school in a 30-mile radius experiencing consistent growth.

“We are extremely proud of the Cross County Elementary Technology Academy on being named a finalist for this award,” Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva said. “The school’s commitment to providing robust professional development for its teachers, focus on teacher retention, and purposeful efforts to enhance character education for students resulted in tangible results that have positively improved student learning.”

What’s next for CCETA? Each finalist will go through a judging process to compete for Top 3 - and the public can vote to help advance their school and represent their state and country on an international stage. To vote for CCETA, visit the World’s Best School Prizes’ page and search for CCETA in the search bar, or scroll through the schools to find them below. Voting ends on July 9, 2025, so be sure to help support this fellow Arkansas school before the window closes!