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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Launches Global Education Challenge

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 05/20/11

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will award $250,000 in cash and prizes as part of its Global Education Challenge.

The challenge is being hosted on a collaborative online platform and asks entrants to post ideas that impact student learning, family engagement, or teacher effectiveness.

The top winners, whose ideas will be considered for development by HMH, will be chosen by a panel of nine judges.

The first-place winner will receive $100,000 cash. HMH will also donate $25,000 worth of fiction, non-fiction, and reference titles to the K-12 school of their choice. A second-place finish will earn $25,000 cash and $15,000 worth of titles to the winner's school of choice. The third-place prize is $10,000 cash and $10,000 worth of titles to a chosen school.

Additional prizes will also be awarded for the ideas with the highest rating from the challenge community, the entrants with the highest reputation, for specific accomplishments achieved throughout the competition, and through random drawings.

"Our schools and the tools they use are becoming more disconnected from the students they serve every single day. There is a critical need for fresh, creative thinking to improve global educational systems," said Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Michael Muldowney. "We all share the responsibility for identifying ways to improve schools and the Global Education Challenge brings anyone with a great idea into the discussion--whether the innovator is a classroom teacher, a school principal, a parent or an academic. We're looking for ways to dramatically improve results, while extending educational opportunities to every child globally."

The deadline for submissions is July 15. To join the challenge community or to enter the contest, visit ideas.hmh.spigit.com. Answers to common questions about the challenge can be found here. More information about the prizes can be found here.