Earn a black belt in teaching

NEA Today, Feb 1999 by Chase, Bob

My top 10 reasons why you should consider National Board certification.

By 1993, Doris Mauer had been teaching language arts to fifth and sixth graders in Cedar Falls Iowa, for 36 years.

With one year until retirement, she could have coasted through her classes. But instead, Mauer opted to spend the last year of her career engaged in the rigorous process of National Board certification. Why?

"I always knew I was a good teacher," she says. "I just wanted somebody else to say it."

Finally, American educators have a definitive set of teaching standards at their fingertips-and a way to measure their ability to live up to them.

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification program gives teachers a shot at professional mastery akin to earning a black belt in teaching.

National Board certification enhances teachers' skills, increases our stature, and improves the education of children. Simply put, there's no better professional development opportunity.

That's why NEA has made Board certification a top priority. We've committed a section of our budget to help affiliates recruit and support new candidates across the country.

Yet many of you, I know, already feel overburdened in your classrooms. And the year-long Board certification process requires extensive written and videotaped documentation of instruction inside the classroom, as well as evaluations, portfolios, and tests. Many of you may ask: Why bother?

And so, I've compiled Bob's Top 10 Reasons Why Teachers Should Apply for National Board Certification:

10. You're good enough, you're smart enough, and, doggone it, people should know it Certification is a national validation and recognition of your abilities. It's like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval-to the 10th power-for teaching. The public recognizes and respects it.

9. Standards so clear you can see yourself in them. For the first time, teachers have a concrete set of national standards that make it clear just what we should be teaching and how we should measure our effectiveness as teachers. We no longer have to struggle in the dark, second-guessing expectations or our abilities.

8. It's a teacher thing. The majority of "experts" on the National Board are teachers. Certification is a professional development tool created by teachers, for teachers. It's not a theoretical "reform" model created by those who've never set foot in a classroom.

7. It's not some Mickey Mouse inservice. "With Board certification, everything takes place in the classroom," reports Joan Celestino, a Board certified teacher in North Carolina. "You develop lesson plans that you actually use. The process involves your own students. Your teaching becomes enriched-whether or not you get certified. You can't lose."

6. Even Pavlov's dogs got biscuits. More states and districts are offering financial and professional rewards for Board certification. Thirteen states offer financial supplements, ranging from a $500 bonus in Wisconsin to a 12 percent pay raise in North Carolina (see page 6). Some states allow for license portability. Others count Board certification toward licensure renewal or continuing education units.

5. Make friends and influence people. Nationally certified teachers report that they enjoy greater clout and credibility. They're often called upon as experts, consultants, or spokespeople in their communities.

4. No more "been there, done that:' If you're a long-time teacher, certification is a way to reinvigorate yourself professionally and boldly go where you have never gone before. As Doris Mauer told me, "People think that once you're in the classroom, you never change. I just wanted to prove that this old gal could do it."

3. It's a professional power tool. Certification supercharges your ability to teach by example-as either a mentor or an inspiration to your colleagues. And it uplifts the profession overall: By putting us in charge of standards and excellence, it raises our professional stature in the public arena.

2. Make history. As a social studies teacher, I view Board certification as an historic opportunity. Never before has our profession been able to rally around a model and declare: This is what great teaching looks like.

1. Be all that you can be. "Do it because it makes you a better teacher, and do it to make things better for kids," says Iowa's Mauer. I couldn't put it better myself. Comments? You can E-mail me directly at BobChase@nea.org.