"I'm very pleased," said Cochran-Smith. "I've won other awards for particular books or studies, but this is for a body of work over 15 years."
She said the field of teacher education, often criticized in recent headlines, remains vital to the improvement of the nation's schools.
"To move toward true educational change, we need teachers who enter the profession not expecting to carry on business as usual, but prepared to join other educators and parents in major reforms," she said.
Cochran-Smith has written extensively on children's language and learning, on teacher research, and on issues of race, diversity and social justice in teaching and teacher education.
Cochran-Smith joined the BC faculty in 1996 after teaching at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
-Mark Sullivan