Mining for Excellence

NEA Today, Apr 2004 by Katz, Bob

This Colorado local has just the right formula for growing National Board Certified Teachers.

Paige Dersham, in her 10th year teaching at Park Hill Elementary in Denver, Colorado, had pretty much exhausted her bag of tricks-yet her student Malcolm (not his real name) still lagged behind his classmates and just couldn't get motivated. Dersham had tried giving the fifth grader more time for tests, shorter assignments, and increased one-on-one help.

Nothing seemed to make a difference.

Then Dersham herself went "back to school."

She learned about the process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (N BCT) from a newsletter published by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA). This activist local provides a wealth of support for members seeking Board Certification-and it shows. DCTA boasts the highest number of NBCTs (36) in Colorado.

Several factors account for DCTA's successful support of h Board Certification-starting with its contract with the Denver public schools. The district and DCTA'together pay $1,500 toward the NBCT fee (approximately $2,300 per candidate) for up to five Denver teachers each year. In addition, teachers who gain Board Certification get bumped up one lane in their pay scale (which can mean an increase of $2,500 or more) or a boost of 7 percent if they're on the doctorate schedule.

The DCTA support framework includes pre-candidate and candidate courses run in partnership with the University of Colorado-Denver. Monthly workshops that enable candidates to confer-and commiserate-about their projects are held with the Colorado Education Association (CEA).

The DCTA also puts a premium on having a mentor, especially someone at a comparable grade and content level. "It's the heart of our program," explains Jane Goff, CEA vice president. "We try not to let anyone do this alone."

Such support is well-deserved, because the workload for candidates is challenging. Applying for Board Certification requires hundreds of hours of research and writing, squeezed into spare nights and weekends. Candidates must arrange to videotape their interactions with students and prepare step-by-step analyses of their teaching efforts. Some liken it to performing the entire workload needed for a master's degree in only five or six months.

Clearly, there are concrete benefits to Board Certification, like higher pay and better job opportunities. Yet Denver teachers say the heightened sense of professionalism and respect they receive should not be overlooked.

"It's similar to a CPA (certified public accountant) or a lawyer taking the bar exam," says Connie White, a kindergarten teacher who earned her Board Certification in 2000. "I always knew I was a good teacher. I wanted something to show other people I was a good teacher."

And, of course, there are the many profound "intangibles" derived from sharpening teaching skills and probing into areas where there is room for growth. "I'd always thought of myself as a reflective teacher," says Dersham. "Going through the National Board process, I found that I'd only been skimming the surface."

When she jumped into the certification qualifying process, Dersham's classroom became her assignment. Her students became her homework. And something clicked-for Dersham and for Malcolm.

At the outset of her NBCT quest, Dersham recognized she needed to let students know about the portfolio she was assembling. Malcolm, to her surprise, insisted that his work be included.

"Then you're going to have to buckle down and give me some," she told him.

Up to that point, Malcolm had rarely completed an assignment. Paige assigned the class to write a piece from the viewpoint of an endangered species.

Malcolm chose tigers. He produced a first draft and read it aloud. Classmates made suggestions. Malcolm re-worked the piece several times. Dersham scrupulously recorded each developmental stage in her portfolio, along with her detailed reflections on the effort to coax him toward proficiency. She was learning. So was he.

"Now you know that this life is hard for me," wrote Malcolm in the concluding paragraph of his account as an endangered tiger. "I have scientists coming for questions."

It wasn't hard to figure out where he got the notion of scientists asking questions.

-BOB KATZ

FOR MORE on the DCTA's efforts, contact DCTA President Becky Wissink (bwissink@nea.org). Learn about becoming a Board Certified Teacher at www.nbpts.org.