Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/939681
Reflections on Becoming Board-Certified B Y 2 0 2 5 , the National Board for Pro- fessional Teaching Standards expects 1 million teachers to earn National Board Certification status, further improving student achievement across the country and elevating the teaching profession along the way. It's a lofty goal, but with recent changes that include lowering fees and allowing more time to complete the process, the board is hopeful more teachers will participate. Spe- cifically, the board decreased the fees from $2,500 to $1,950 and now allows up to three years to submit all four components, and an additional two years if retakes are necessary. "It's a game changer in that it matches up more to personal lives of teachers," says Linda Bauld, direc- tor of the National Board Resource Center, which provides support for teachers pursuing certification. "We are already seeing greater enrollment throughout the nation." More than 112,000 teachers across the United States are board-certified, and almost 20,000 are currently going through the process. In December, thousands more teachers received certification nationwide. Among them was Tedra Matthews, a literacy coach at Monroe Elementary School in San Francisco and United Educators of San Francisco member. "It was the best profes- sional learning experience of my career," she says. With the support of her school district, Matthews was part of a National Board Support Network in which National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) serve as professional learning facilitators. Within the district, NBCTs led site- based professional development that included hosting lab classrooms to help newer teachers see evidence of accomplished teaching in practice. Reflecting on teaching is a key aspect of the process, Matthews says. " Teaching is not magic. It's mak- ing purposeful decisions and reflecting on them to improve your practice." Matthews decided to go through the process when she was teaching at a charter school that didn't offer much in the way of professional development. "I was feeling at a dead end and wanted to submit my practice to a higher level of professional learn- ing," she says. " There is a lot of research that teachers who continue to grow professionally are less likely to burn out." With certification, Matthews can expect to see an increase of $5,000 above her regular salary. Bauld says the state's Professional Teaching Standards are patterned after the NBC process, so it comple- ments and enhances what teachers should be doing in the classroom. "It's not that NBCTs are better than other teachers. It's about teachers doing their best for their students," Bauld says. " It's not that NBCTs are better than other teachers. It's about teachers doing their best for their students." — LINDA BAULD, NATIONAL BOARD RESOURCE CENTER offers in partnership with NEA. The three-day workshop pre- pares CTA members to embark on the NBC process. C eliz an d Arredon do p ar ti cip at ed in Jump St ar t in S an D i ego last summer, and Celiz introduced it to 20 LEA members at a training in the fall. "Jump Start goes through each of the components of the cer- tification process and breaks it down," says Arredondo. "If you go on the NBC website, it can be daunting. Jump Start gives you a solid idea of 'This is where I need to go.' If you don't under- stand the process, it would be easy to give up." "Jump Start was designed to be a three-day training," Celiz says. " We did a 4-8 p.m. after-school training and then two Saturdays. On the first day, [we covered] foundations and what board certification is; and then the two other days, we looked at each component." C eli z h a s sin c e b e en sel e ct ed a s p ar t of an N E A Jump Start Advisor y Team , about 15 to 20 teacher leaders from d i f f e re n t N E A a f f i l i a t e s a r o u n d t h e c o u n t r y. T h e t e a m redesign ed Jump Star t to match th e n ew National B oard process, which was revised in 2013 to condense the assess- m e n t p r o c e ss i n t o f o u r m o d u l e s . ( T h e f i r st t e a c h e r s t o complete the revised process are expected to be certified this year.) It is now focusing on Jump Start as a professional issues engagement strategy. For more information about National Board Certification, see nbpts.org. 44 cta.org H E A D Teaching & Learning Tedra Matthews