Promoting Accomplished Teaching Through National Certification - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards - Brief Article

School Administrator, Sept, 1995 by Curman L. Gaines

Better teachers make better education possible. It's that simple.

If we want our students to meet challenging standards for what they know and are able to do, we must have teachers who meet similarly high standards--accomplished professionals who can prepare our children, regardless of their abilities and backgrounds, to succeed in a complex and competitive society.

What can school administrators do to ensure a teaching staff of such quality? I believe I've found an answer.

Future Impact

I'm convinced a cadre of national board-certified teachers will prove a valuable asset to our schools. I believe the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is significant and far reaching enough to renew public confidence in the quality of teachers throughout the United States.

That's why St. Paul Schools became the nation's first district to sign on to an innovative program called Project 20/20. Through a collaboration between the Council of Great City Schools and NBPTS, our district, in partnership with the St. Paul Federation of Teachers and the University of Minnesota, is supporting the candidacy of 20 experienced, eligible classroom teachers who wish to become certified by the national board. The cost for the district is $975 per teacher.

What's in it for the school district? This initiative represents an exciting opportunity to exercise a leadership role in teacher development. It also comes at a time when the district needs to retain its most accomplished staff and recruit talented minority teachers.

Like many other urban school districts, St. Paul faces two major issues--rapid growth in the student population and an increasingly needy student body.

The district's student population is approximately 41,000, of which 58 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a sharp increase from the 43 percent eligible in 1986-87. The percentage of students of color has risen from 33 to 52 percent in 10 years. More than 5,000 students receive special education services and some 14,000 are from families receiving welfare.

More than 40 percent of our current staff probably will retire in the next five years. Among them will be many minority teachers. It is essential that our students of color see themselves reflected in the adult role models they encounter in their schools. A national board certification system can address this vital issue.

With an equitable, valid, and rigorous national certification system in place, administrators can look to national board-certified teachers for professional support and assistance, both with inexperienced teachers and with colleagues receptive to fresh ideas.

Of greatest importance in St. Paul, national board certification can make teaching attractive to desperately needed minority college graduates who might otherwise pursue other career paths.

Rigorous Assessment

The board certification system is not just another fill-in-the-blanks test. Instead, it is a rigorous series of innovative, performance-based assessments, requiring both school and assessment center activities.

The national board is establishing standards for more than 30 certification fields, covering developmental levels of students and subject matter. Certificates also will cover generalists (teachers who advance student learning across the curriculum) as well as teachers of English as a new language and teachers of students with exceptional needs.

In designing a system for identifying accomplished teaching, the national board developed a desperately needed model of meaningful professional development, one that is school based and ongoing and encourages both reflective practice and collegiality.

The 20 St. Paul teachers preparing for national board certification through the 20/20 Project are engaged in activities encouraging them to scrutinize every facet of their teaching. All candidates will have worked toward building on their strengths, deepening their knowledge and developing more creative ways of advancing student learning, regardless of whether they ultimately achieve certification.

Monetary Incentive

Still skeptical? Robert Manheimer, the recently retired superintendent in Jericho, N.Y, feels as strongly as I do about the value of national board certification. To prove it, his district established incentives for eligible teachers to become board certified. The school district will refund #e $975 fee to all who apply and complete the process. Those who achieve certification will receive a stipend of $4,000; those who complete the process but do not achieve certification will receive $2,000.

I urge school district administrators to learn more about the activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and to encourage eligible teachers in their districts to seek national board certification. I am proud to be part of the national board s pioneer efforts to strengthen the nation's schools through a powerful initiative that identifies and rewards accomplished classroom teaching.