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Teachers subject themselves to a grueling process - hundreds of hours of work and waiting perhaps three years - to earn National Board certification. Why? Money, prestige, self-insight and more.
By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 8, 2003
Karen Boehm began trying to log on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' Web site shortly after daybreak on Nov. 22. She held her breath every time she got close.
Around 8, she gave up and drove to Curlew Creek Elementary School, where her assistant principal greeted her with a question: "Did you make it?"
She tried connecting to the site again from her classroom while her boss watched over her shoulder. Together, they read the words Boehm had waited a long time to see: "Congratulations! You are a National Board Certified teacher."
Boehm was among 1,243 Florida schoolteachers who learned that morning that they had earned National Board certification, an exhaustive process that involves countless hours of paperwork, videotaping and self-evaluation. Many teachers consider it the highest honor in their profession.
The victory was especially sweet for Boehm because it was a year delayed. The 18-year classroom veteran began working toward it in 2000. She completed the time-consuming requirements and took the three-hour assessment test only to learn in November 2001 that her composite score was two points below the minimum for certification.
Unwilling to give up when she had come so close, she reworked the weakest portion of her assessment and reapplied.
"I felt more confident because I had other people reading my work this time," she said. "But the pressure was there because I didn't want to fail again."
With the addition of 2002's successful candidates, Florida has 3,489 nationally certified teachers, the second most in the country. The number has steadily increased since 1999, when the state could claim only 21.
Part of the reason for the increase is financial. Thanks to legislation introduced by former state Sen. Jim Horne in 1998 that created the Excellent Teaching Program, the state provides a 10 percent salary increase to teachers who achieve National Board certification. That amounts to about $3,500 a year for a midcareer teacher. Educators who agree to help another teacher achieve certification are eligible for an additional 10 percent raise.
The number of teachers who seek and earn certification in Pinellas County also has risen, said Kim Swartzel, senior human resources specialist for recruiting for the district. In 2001, 40 teachers earned certification. In 2002, 44 joined their ranks, bringing the county's total to 177.
National Board certification enriches the district in more than one way, she said.
"I don't think the purpose is just to make them better teachers. It is to have them share their knowledge with other teachers," she said. "I think the most important thing is that they continue to use what they learned through the process to help other teachers."
Besides the monetary incentives, National Board certification offers prestige in a profession that is often criticized, which was why the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was created in 1987. The board, composed of school administrators, state legislators, business and community leaders, and classroom teachers, wanted to show that educators, like professionals in other fields, can achieve distinction by demonstrating that they meet high standards for what they know and are able to do.
The prestige and the salary bonus come at a price. Teachers seeking National Board certification must demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a series of performance-based assessments that include student work samples, videotapes and rigorous analyses of their classroom techniques. Written exercises probe the depth of their subject matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects. They must demonstrate their skill at assessing and measuring student learning by compiling a 150-page portfolio.
The process consumed hundreds of hours of Linda Bowman's time. Bowman, who is head coach and physical education department chairwoman at Osceola High School, undertook the certification as a personal challenge to find out if her teaching methods have kept pace with other physical education instructors throughout her 30-year career. She also was eager to demonstrate that the standards of her field are as rigorous as those in any academic area.
"It's an intense process, but the No. 1 thing I was going to do was finish no matter what. That was the promise I had made to myself," Bowman said. "One of the things I've always stressed to my students is if you're going to start something, you finish it. You don't quit."
Although most teachers view national certification as a one-year process, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards considers it a three-year effort. Only about half of the educators who apply accumulate sufficient points on their first try. Like Boehm, they are allowed to "bank" their points and keep trying.
Regardless of how long it takes, NBPTS spokesman James Minichello said, National Board certification produces better teachers.
"An overwhelming majority of teachers who go through the National Board certification process, whether or not they achieve it, tell us that the process is the best professional development experience that they've ever had," he said. "They say it helps them with their teaching practice and that they can help their students learn better."
After 28 years in the classroom, Camille Knight was surprised at the amount of insight she gained.
"It really made me stop and think," the Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary School music teacher said. "I'm teaching in this manner, but is it effective for the students? Are they really learning from it, or should I do it in a different way?"
Since she completed the assessment, Knight has incorporated some of its procedures into her lesson plans. She has begun asking her students what they think works, what doesn't, and what would help them to learn better, involving them more in their own education.
Honing her skills to that level, Knight said, made every second of the more than 700 hours she spent achieving the certification worthwhile.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards seeks to identify and recognize teachers who effectively enhance student learning and demonstrate a high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and commitments reflected in five core propositions:
-- Teachers are committed to students and their learning. They believe all students can learn. They treat all students equally while recognizing individual differences.
-- Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students. They know how the subjects they teach are linked to other disciplines and how they are applied in real-world settings.
-- Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. They use time effectively to create instructional settings that sustain their students' interest.
-- Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience. They model curiosity, tolerance, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity and appreciation of cultural differences for their students.
-- Teachers are members of learning communities. They work collaboratively with other professionals and with parents.
Forty-four Pinellas County teachers earned National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for 2002:
Mary Armstong, Woodlawn Elementary
Karen Boehm, Curlew Creek Elementary
Linda Bowman, Osceola High
Carolyn Burke, Safety Harbor Elementary
Anne Burson, Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary
Janet Castner, Davis Elementary
Julie Chamberlin, Carwise Middle School
Noel Cherasaro, Cross Bayou Elementary
Mary Cronin, Eisenhower Elementary
Christine Ehlers, Calvin Hunsinger Elementary
Jeanne Gagliardo, Safety Harbor Middle School
Martha Gilkes, Rio Vista Elementary
Kathleen Granning, Palm Harbor University High
Mark Granning, Lakewood High
Victoria Hagedorn, Walsingham Elementary
Linda Hanna, Lynch Elementary
Laura Johnson, Pinellas Park Elementary
Cheryl Kendall, Anona Elementary
Mary Kindinger, Seminole High
Camille Knight, Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary
Kathleen Leach, Pinellas Central Elementary
Michael Malinka, Meadowlawn Middle School
Kristina Matz, Curlew Creek Elementary
Connelly Menefee, Clearwater High
Barbara Miller, Forest Lakes Elementary
Lori Mohr, Ozona Elementary
Pamela Onan, Bear Creek Elementary
Hernan Pineda, Bay Point Elementary
Jacquelin Poole, McMullen-Booth Elementary
Annette Robinson, Richard L. Sanders Exceptional Student Education Center
Abigail Rudderham, Lakeview Fundamental Elementary
Michelle Saari, Plumb Elementary
Margaret Siemon, Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary
Dana Smalley, Safety Harbor Middle School
Julie Smith, John Hopkins Middle School
Katherine Smith, Maximo Elementary
Robyn Smith, Westgate Elementary
Karen Stewart, San Jose Elementary
Michael Taylor, Meadowlawn Middle School
Kathleen Thompson, Bear Creek Elementary
Nancy Tondreault, Bauder Elementary
Patricia Whittaker, McMullen-Booth Elementary
Deborah Wilson, Safety Harbor Middle School
Alicia Wolfe, teacher of visually impaired students in the district's Low Prevalence Programs office