Meet an Excellence in Teaching Awards educator: Tyler Dillard
April 23, 2026
We’re featuring some of the educators who were recognized with 2025 Excellence In Teaching Awards for making a significant impact on students’ academic growth.
Last year, Tyler Dillard taught third grade English/language arts. Now in his fourth year, Tyler teaches second grade English/language arts at Meeting Street Academy – Spartanburg. This year, his students’ Magnitude of Growth in reading is 2.11, which means they are on track to grow 111 percent more than expected in one academic year.
What are some ways you build strong relationships with your students? How does this affect their engagement in the classroom?
Building strong relationships with my students is the key to success in both academics and classroom culture. It is truly something that I prioritize with every group of students who come into my classroom. With society changing all around us, it is imperative now more than ever that I cultivate spaces in my classroom where students know I not only have their best interests academically but also relationally.
Because I have such strong relationships with my students, reaching the whole child becomes easy. I’ve witnessed firsthand students who didn’t like coming to school or those who were scared to take academic risks transform into completely different students, all because of the strong relationships we had. Relationships not only create a culture of learning, but also a culture of error where students are not afraid to make mistakes. This produces high engagement across the room, and as a result, students can academically achieve their goals.
How do you set and communicate high expectations to your students, and how do they respond to these expectations?
The work we do in our classrooms is not easy – and that’s where transparency comes in. We cannot expect students to maintain expectations that weren’t communicated directly to them. One of the ways I communicate these high expectations is by showing students their data and giving them complete ownership of what they produce.
As a result, my students respond to these expectations with understanding and participation. Oftentimes, teachers try to take complete control of students’ progress, and although we are partially responsible, it is also just as important to let students know they, too, play a huge role in their academic success. One quote I often say to my students is “I provide the tools, but it’s up to you to use them – and if you want to build something great, you can’t do it without the tools.”
How do you handle setbacks or when a lesson doesn’t go as planned, and what do you learn from those experiences?
Every setback creates an opportunity for a stronger comeback. My first year of teaching, I experienced many setbacks. Whether it was a lesson that went wrong, or test scores that didn’t meet expectations. The difference between then and now is that I’ve learned how to monitor and adjust quickly.
The best way to make your comeback even stronger is by doing one thing – responding to the data. Every lesson won’t go as planned. Every test won’t equal out to 100 percent mastery, but it’s how quickly you respond to data that gives you what you need to reach your students. Two things I’ve learned through setbacks are: one, your students will always tell you the area they need improvement in through their data, and two, it will show you where, as a teacher, you can grow.
How has the Excellence in Teaching Awards made a difference in your life – personally and/or professionally?
The Excellence in Teaching Awards have been a game-changer for me. When I first became aware of the teaching awards, it lit another fire in me to make sure my students not only met their goals, but exceeded them. The last three years, I’ve been blessed to receive this award, and every year since then, my proficiency continues to increase, which results in a bigger award at the end of the year.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards gave me the opportunity to purchase my very own residence, which was another game-changer for me. I’ve also been able to pay off debts and update my vehicle to a newer/up-to-date model. Most of all, it has created stability in both my personal life and professional career.
