As our way to recognize and celebrate the National Board score release this weekend, our NBCT/Bloggers shared a bit about what being a National Board Certified Teacher has meant for them, and for our state. The process of becoming National Board Certified involves hundreds of planning hours and demonstrating best practices in teaching. Those who recently certified had an additional stress of a delay in score results due to a computer server glitch.
With the glitch solved, and over a thousand new NBCTs to join them in Washington state, we offer our congratulations and invite you to read on and be inspired by what our bloggers have said about how being National Board Certified is making a difference for teachers in our state.
From Travis:
NBCTs increase leadership strength in teaching. Teaching, as a profession, and education as a system, has been in the hands of those who do not teach, and do not educate, for far too long. Each NBCT represents a dedicated, caring, and reflective professional who will bring public education back to the public. I certified as an NBCT in 2006 and was instantly connected to a network of highly collaborative teachers who share the common goal of a great public school system. Washington has shown itself to be a leader in education because of the great work of NBCTs. To all the incoming NBCTs—Welcome! And thank you for making Washington strong (Travis A. Wittwer, NBCT, ELA 2006).
From Mark:
I go to too many meetings. Some are building leadership kinds of meetings, others are PLCs, some are local union meetings, others are just regular old department meetings. Recently, I've noticed a trend: When I pay attention to who is talking, I notice that the teachers emerging as leaders are NBCTs, Take-One achievers, or candidates awaiting scores. The leadership I see these colleagues taking is not formal, resume-padding leadership, but actual leadership through action, collaboration, reflection, and collegiality. I'm not asserting a causal relationship here: I don't believe that becoming an NBCT causes leadership, per se, but I can't help but admit that it must be a pretty good indicator of teachers who possess leadership dispositions and potential in their own classrooms and beyond.
For me, I know that earning my NBPTS certification gave me a boost in both my confidence as an educator but also my confidence in my ability to reflect, analyze, and critically examine the ever evolving practice of educating children. The thinking I did certainly didn't stop when I mailed off that blue box. To this day, nearly seven years after that last video-recorded small group discussion, I still find myself reflecting on "impact on student learning" in the same way the National Board process encouraged me to (and encouraged me to in a way no other professional development has either before or since).
There are so many layers of contributions that NBCTs make to the profession. We have NBCTs testifying before the legislature and advocating for ed reform in its various incarnations at the state and federal levels. We also have NBCTs leading their peers in their own buildings, encouraging reflective practice, continuous professional development, and student-focused local reforms. Again, the question of causation comes to mind: does becoming and NBCT necessarily cause this kind of leadership? Not directly, perhaps. But I believe it helps to identify, reward, and encourage teachers who have the dispositions to lead. And we know, even if the policymakers don't yet, that the only way real reform will stick is if teachers are in the lead. (Mark Gardner: NBCT, AYA-ELA, 2006).
Two things I would say about NB certification:
1. The certification itself is a huge accomplishment. Not only are you demonstrating that your teaching meets the highest standards, but going through the process makes you a more intentional and efficient teacher.
2. After certification, teachers have the opportunity to join and collaborate with an amazing community of like-minded teachers. The leadership and learning opportunities are countless, and the best part is that you don’t have to give up the job you love so much. (Tom: NBCT, MC-Gen 2000, renewed in 2008)
From Rob:
Our curriculum coach, literacy facilitator, the teacher of English Language Learners, my grade level teaching partner and I are National Board Certified Teachers. I am proud of that label because of my association with those colleagues. I admire their contributions and work. I am proud of my association with other National Board Certified Teachers. I am confident those teachers who share that designation are among the best in their field.
I can point to the tangible creations of the Board Certified Teachers at my school. We have interpreted conferences so all families have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in their children’s education. We have Read-Strong, an afternoon reading program created by an NBCT who saw a need for students to have greater exposure to literacy.
But the most valuable contributions of NBCTs go largely unnoticed. These educators don’t make excuses. They seek solutions. These teachers are not perfect but they are not stagnant either. They are always looking for ways to improve their instruction. These are the leaders in the school. Sometimes they are quiet. Sometimes outspoken; but they are the ones who put students first.
When I’ve exhausted my quiver of strategies, I turn to these teachers. When we meet to discuss an issue one of two things happens. Either, that teacher has faced a similar situation and they have an approach I’ve yet to try. Or we efficiently diagnose the problem and create a new approach. This contribution to teaching is difficult to quantify. It is hard to explain. But the best, most reliable teachers I know each hold National Board Certification. (Rob: NBCT, MC-Gen, 2008).
From Kristin:
The work I did to earn my National Boards is by far the most valuable professional development I've had as a teacher. I return to that work everyday in my teaching, whether it's identifying a specific goal for a student, critically analyzing whether my teaching is effective, or measuring whether a student has made progress toward a goal.
When I meet a teacher who has earned National Board Certification I know I'm meeting someone who is able to take a critical look at his or her own practice, who is willing to do whatever it takes personalize instruction for each child and who isn't proud only to be a teacher, but is proud to be a teacher who wants to teach really well.
The fact that every year more teachers earn their National Board Certification is evidence that most teachers are effective teachers. Every year, more of us stand up and prove it. That gives us more credibility when we say that society can't continue to cut resources in education while adding expectations.
Congratulations to all of you who recently earned your certification! For those of you who were close, don't give up! It's worth it to retake that test section or rewrite that entry. For those of you who are wondering if you should do this, if it's worth all the work, I want to tell you that it is. You will grow more through this challenge than you ever imagined, and you will be a more powerful teacher because of it. (Kristin: NBCT, 2008).