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Teachers, reinforced
By DONNA WINCHESTER After spending more than 500 hours last year preparing to become a national board certified teacher, Eileen Deegan hesitated before going online the Friday before Thanksgiving to find out if she had made the grade. Anticipating the best but concerned for the worst, she didn't want to appear upset at school. But her principal at Maximo Elementary School insisted she check the results as soon as they were posted to see if she had earned what many consider to be teaching's top honor. "I was on car duty and my principal (Barbara Hires) came out and said, 'I want you to go in and check,' " Mrs. Deegan said. "I told her I wanted to wait until I got home, but she said, 'You go in there and check. You've got to believe in yourself.' " Mrs. Hires took Mrs. Deegan's place in the car line, allowing the teacher to slip into her classroom and log on to her computer. She held her breath and waited until a letter popped up that said "Congratulations, you are a board certified teacher." She ran to tell her principal, then she called her husband. As soon as her students arrived, she broke the news to them. "They said, 'Oh! You passed!' It was like a birthday party in my room all day," she said. Mrs. Deegan was one of 40 Pinellas County teachers and 992 educators in Florida who earned national board certification this year. About twice as many attempted the certification process, an ordeal that required them to spend countless hours analyzing and documenting their teaching methods, compiling a portfolio that included videotapes and writing samples, and preparing for a rigorous six-hour test that measured their teaching abilities. Like many of her peers, Mrs. Deegan said she was attracted to the challenge. "It sounds crazy, but I almost had to prove something to myself," she said. "This is the highest thing a teacher can do, the hardest thing I could challenge myself with." Mrs. Deegan, who has been teaching for 34 years, also wanted to prove something to others. "Teaching is a profession with an inferiority complex. We're all trying to be the very best we can be for our kids. This is one way we can show people we're doing our best," she said. Mrs. Deegan is among an increasing number of educators nationwide who decided to pursue national board certification. This year, 6,500 teachers successfully completed the requirements, bringing the total to 16,035. In 1995, the first year for the program, only 86 teachers earned certification. Florida now boasts 2,256 nationally board certified teachers, a significant increase since 1998 when the state had only 21 educators who were nationally certified. Betty Castor, former University of South Florida president and former Florida education commissioner, is now president of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which administers the certification program. She said monetary incentives offered by most states are responsible for the dramatic increase. Florida teachers are eligible for a $4,200 annual bonus. They can earn an additional $4,200 per year if they help other teachers become board certified, which adds up to $84,000 for the 10 years the certification is valid. "It has really gotten the attention of the teachers," Castor said. "Florida is now No. 1 in terms of candidates per state. There are 3,364 new candidates (for 2002), and the final number will go up. Florida has the potential in a couple of years to have more board certified teachers than any other state." With the financial incentive as a springboard, Castor said, the national board certification process is transforming teachers because it helps them become better educators. "Teachers who undertake this are probably good teachers to begin with, but invariably, they tell us that they are better teachers, and that they think their students will learn more, because they have gone through national board certification," she said. Mrs. Deegan said the experience made her more analytical and focused. "(The assessors) want to know what the goals and objectives are behind what you do," she said. "It makes you stop and think." The process also taught her to ask for help. She worked one-on-one with a teacher at her school who earned her certification in 1999 and she joined a study group of three other teachers who were working on their certifications. She took advantage of tutoring sessions at the Pinellas County Teacher's Association and spent several afternoons with the school district's reading, science and math supervisors. "It becomes collaborative learning," she said, "the kind of thing we're asking our kids to do." Because the standards are high -- they were created by the NBPTS in 1987 to serve as a model for what accomplished teachers should strive for in the classroom -- only about half of the candidates are successful on their first attempt. Teachers who do not secure a combined score of 275 points on their portfolio and assessment test are encouraged to "bank" their points and keep trying for certification. Karen Boehm, a Curlew Creek Elementary teacher with 18 years of classroom experience, missed being certified this year by two points. She was disappointed, but heartened by the fact that she was so close. "I looked at other people's scores and found it was very common to be 40 or 50 points away," she said. "I felt relieved that I only have to do one thing over." Not making it on her first attempt has strengthened her resolve to become nationally board certified, she said. She compared her desire to succeed to a football player's desire to secure a Super Bowl ring. She also sees her near-miss as an opportunity to teach her students to keep trying. "But the lesson that I think is even more important, is that we're never too old to learn new things," she said. "Every day is a new learning experience. That's what I want to teach the kids more than anything else." Certified teachersForty Pinellas County teachers earned national board certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for 2001: Bonnie Adams, Tarpon Springs Elementary Holly Atkins, Bay Point Middle Sally Baynard, Area III Gifted Center Lisa Bitting, Palm Harbor University High Bruce Brodney, Oakhurst Elementary Gilda Bruce Shelley, Nina Harris Exceptional Education Center Alyce Congdon Scott, Sutherland Elementary Eileen Deegan, Maximo Elementary Robert Ward Dull, Palm Harbor University High Nancy Ellington, Rawlings Elementary Teri Ferry, Garrison-Jones Elementary Tanya Fossler, Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary Yolanda Franklin, Palm Harbor University High Sue Grivanou Kantaras, Hospital/Homebound Cynthia Heinlein, East Lake High Dolores Hudson, Frontier Elementary Mary Jackson, Tyrone Elementary Jennifer Kennedy, Forest Lakes Elementary Malla Kolhoff, Palm Harbor University High Valerie Krillies, Ozona Elementary Andrea Magill, Hamilton Disston Exceptional Education Center Mary Jo Mastry, Maximo Elementary Jean McCormick, Northwest Elementary Randy McGonegal, Palm Harbor University High Ann McNicol, Palm Harbor University High Linda Orlopp Whitaker, Palm Harbor University High Barbara O'Steen, Area III Gifted Center Joyce Ostrom, Highland Lakes Elementary Kimberly Pearson, Bauder Elementary Mark Rodgers, Azalea Elementary Jeffrey Schmidt, Northwest Elementary Darlene Schueler, Palm Harbor Middle Robert Sinibaldi, Walsingham Elementary Sherry Skorupa, San Jose Elementary Timothy Slaughter, Ponce de Leon Elementary Susan Terry, Carwise Middle Jody Urchin, Palm Harbor University High Rita Vasquez, Boca Ciega High Karen White, Skycrest Elementary Patricia Williams, Lynch Elementary -- Source: Pinellas County School District
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