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More than 900 Washington teachers become National Board certified
State ranks 3rd in newly certified teachers, eighth in total certified teachers
OLYMPIA - December 9, 2008 - They spent a year cataloging their teaching experiences, creating portfolios of their work, taking tests.
After all the work, 919 more Washington teachers are National Board certified.
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Washington state National Board certified teachers, by year:
2000 - 44
2001 - 44
2002 - 99
2003 - 131
2004 - 238
2005 - 315
2006 - 408
2007 - 485
2008 - 919
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That number, which was made public this morning by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, placed Washington state third in the nation in new National Board-certified teachers, behind only Florida and North Carolina. The 2,726 total Board-certified teachers place the state eighth in the nation.
The 919 newly Board-certified teachers represent an 89.5 percent increase from last year, when 485 teachers were newly Board-certified.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson expressed enthusiasm for the teachers. "What I continue to find so amazing is the personal growth the teachers go through during the application process," she said. "So many teachers have told me that they learn not only how to be better teachers, but how to be better people. They’ve learned so much more about themselves: their capacity, their limits. And they take all that new knowledge back to the classroom.
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"Just as important, the system that allows them to go through the process wouldn’t be as strong as it is in Washington if everyone – principals, district leaders, even community members – didn’t understand its importance and didn’t support it."
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Washington by the numbers:
Total number of National Board Certified Teachers: 2,726
(National Rank: 8th)
Number of new board certified teachers in 2008: 919
(National Rank: 3rd)
Percentage of board certified teachers in WA: 5%
(National Rank: 7th)
191 districts (out of 295) have at least one teacher with National Board certification.
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Certification is a year-long introspective process that requires teachers to submit a four-part portfolio and a six-exercise content and pedagogy assessment. The 10 entries document a teacher’s success in the classroom as evidenced by his or her students’ learning. The portfolio is then assessed by a national panel of peers.
Legislation passed in 2007 awards a $5,000 bonus to each certified teacher. Teachers can receive an additional $5,000 bonus if they teach in "challenging" schools, which are defined as having a certain percentage of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch (50 percent for high schools, 60 percent for middle schools and 70 percent for elementary schools).
Thanks to a joint effort by Gov. Chris Gregoire, the Washington Education Association and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, as well as to broad bipartisan support in the state Legislature, the number of NBCT candidates is rapidly increasingly. More than 2,000 teachers have signed up as candidates for 2008-09. A total of 22 percent of the newly Board-certified teachers in the state are now teaching in challenging schools, compared to 13 percent for all Board-certified teachers through 2007.
"I want to extend my congratulations to these accomplished teachers," said Gov. Gregoire. "Their commitment to excellence and their ability to complete this rigorous process has led to this recognition by their peers. It is particularly exciting to see the increase of certified teachers in those schools with a large number of struggling students."
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"Today is a great day for Washington’s students," noted Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association. "National Board Certification does make a difference in improving teaching and learning at the classroom level. Under Gov. Gregoire’s leadership, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in interest in National Board Certification – particularly in our state’s most challenging schools. The Washington Education Association is proud to be a partner in supporting educators with this rigorous professional experience."
Effects across the state
The growth of National Board certified teachers was seen across the entire state:
- Yakima more than doubled its number of National Board certified teachers this year (from 12 to 27). Of the 15 newly Board-certified teachers, 10 were certified in math or science. Every one of Yakima’s 2009 NBCTs is teaching in a challenging school.
- Pasco more than doubled its number of NBCTs this year (from 17 to 38). Ninety percent of the new NBCTs teach in challenging schools.
- Bellevue and Seattle are in the top 20 nationally of districts with new NBCTs. Nearly 25 percent of Seattle’s teachers teach in challenging schools.
- River Homelink Alternative School, in the Battle Ground School District, certified eight teachers this year – nearly half of its teaching staff.
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Districts with their first NBCTs in 2008:
- Bickleton
- Columbia (Stevens County)
- Coupeville
- Grandview
- Highland
- Kettle Falls
- Liberty
- Manson
- Mary Walker
- Nooksack
- North Franklin
- Oakville
- Riverside
- Rochester
- San Juan Island
- South Whidbey
- Southside
- Toledo
- Wahluke
- Warden
- Waterville
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Statewide, all but two counties now have Board-certified teachers; in one of those counties – Garfield – a candidate has applied for 2009. Of the 295 school districts in the state, 191 now have NBCTs (64.7 percent) – including 21 with teachers who certified in 2008.
One of those new districts is Bickleton. Located in Klickitat County, about 70 miles southwest of the Tri-Cities, Bickleton School District has about 100 students.
Kim Clinton, a math teacher at Bickleton High School, became the first teacher at Bickleton to become Board-certified. About the process, Clinton said, "I was challenged to reflect and critique my methods, delivery and purpose of my lessons."
Clinton said one of the most energizing aspects of the process was the enthusiasm of her students. "One time, when they knew I had taken a video, a student asked the next day, ‘How did we do?’ This showed me that my students were vested in the work with me as ‘partners.’"
Clinton’s superintendent, Ric Palmer, said he hopes that Clinton’s experience will encourage other teachers in the district to follow. "What I see from other staff is a strong dialogue regarding National Board," he said. "My staff is very collaborative and they are seeing that the National Board experience can really enhance the way they work."
The sense of collaboration among Board-certified staff is by design. "I liken our experience to being belayed with a team of climbers," said Darlene Wilgus, an elementary-school teacher at River Homelink, and a new NBCT. "When a teammate got fogged in and couldn’t see the next hand-hold, one of their partners crafted a question to clarify thinking and encourage the next strategy or step.
"The result was a collective climb toward daily increasing instructional impact."
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Another new NBCT at River Homelink, Lisa Hergert, echoed Wilgus’s comments: "Instead of feeling isolated and on my own," Hergert said, "I knew I could go to any one of them to get verification about specific details, deadlines or questions about prompts."
That collective work pays off handsomely, according to another new NBCT, Mai Maki, a literacy teacher at Highland Middle School in the Bellevue School District. After the certification process is over, Maki said, "instead of just having a neat bag of [teaching] tricks . . . you have a whole other habit of being a teacher, a more thoughtful, questioning teacher."
Investing in teachers
A Congressionally-mandated report in June affirmed the positive impact Board certification has on student achievement and teacher retention. The report, by the National Research Council, was researched during a 30-month period beginning in 2005.
The council, according to a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards press release, "found that students taught by NBCTs make higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by teachers who have not applied and those who did not achieve certification. The findings are based on an analysis of the studies that the NRC says meet standards of sound scientific research, including new analyses commissioned by the NRC. According to the report, the ‘evidence is clear that National Board Certification distinguishes more effective teachers from less effective teachers with respect to student achievement.’"
"The report shows that Washington’s investment in National Board certification is worth it," State Superintendent Bergeson said. "Our model is a shining light for National Board certification, one that can benefit other states. We’ve proven that if you invest in it, it pays off."
Created in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit organization devoted to advancing the quality of teaching and learning.
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