I am a National Board Certified Teacher. Several years ago I went through the process of obtaining my certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, one of less than 74,000 who have done so since 1987. For point of reference there are several million teachers in our schools. The process is extensive, requiring production of a portfolio that is evaluated by other teachers and which includes evidence of multiple dimensions of teaching. It also includes a testing of appropriate content knowledge. It was for me, and for others I know who have undergone the process, the best professional development experience I have had in mhy teaching career, which is now in its 14th year.
The National Board people recently produced a video to encourage more people to pursue certification. They focused on several schools with significant numbers of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). Mine was one of them. And yes, I appear in the video. But that is not why I am writing this diary
If you simply want to watch the video, which runs about 10 minutes, this link will enable you to do so.
The year I received my certificate three of my fellow teachers did as well. This year we again had four teachers receive certification. The NBCTs in our building range from Science to Math to Social studies (I am the only one in our department) to Art to Foreign Language to a very dynamic hearing assistance teacher. Some of our best teachers are so close to the end of their careers that they have chosen not to go through the process, which is very time-consuming. Those who have undertaken the process all swear by it. It is an achievement of which we are all proud.
Many of the State Teachers of the Year come from ranks of NBCTs. About half of the recent National Teachers of the Year, including the one whose term is coming to an end this year, are NBCTs. Most of the less than 330 outstanding teachers in the Teacher Leaders Network in which I participate are NBCTs. There is a reason that so many who are honored are NBCTs, and that is because of what is required.
We videotape our teaching.
We offer samples of student work.
We offer evidence of professional growth and participation in improving the profession.
We provide samples of how we work with parents to help our students.
All of those items in our portfolios are important, but would be meaningless without our also providing reflections, the key to which is how the things we do help improve student learning. I will return to this idea anon.
In the video you will see not only teachers at work, but also snippets of their offering reflections on the value of the process of obtaining NBCTs. You will see principals and superintendents, including the man who is now Secretary of Education, explaining why they value NBCTs. Here I will offer a caveat. Some of the arguments offered will be the improvement in test scores. Anyone who has read my writings on education know I think our focus on test scores is misguided at best and destructive at worst. Still, I could point to the success of my students on such external tests. It is not because I focus on such tests, but because I seek to engage my students, to find ways to to connect the material with them, their lives, their experience.
If you watch carefully when viewing the video, you will note a consist pattern of energy and engagement. Perhaps it will be a teacher of younger children crouching when she talks with a student so as not to overwhelm the child. Or it will be our dynamic Spanish teacher Mr. Willoughby, a large African-American gentleman injecting vigor and enthusiasm into his classroom. You may see a forest of hands raised as students explode out of their seats in the desire to participate in discussions, answer questions, etc. Because teaching is ultimately first and foremost about the students.
That is why the reflective process is so important. The woman, now retired, who mentored me through my own application, offered a video tape of a lesson that did not work well. She told me that she wound up modifying the lesson as she was teaching it because she could see it was not working. And because she could explain what had happened and what she did as a result, that video tape was scored very highly. Not all done by even the best teachers is successful. All of us have lessons that - no matter how carefully planned - bomb. We have to be sufficiently self-aware to recognize that and to respond accordingly. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received about teaching is from a now retired assistant superintendent in Prince George's County, Dr. Leroy Tompkins. Dr. Tompkins was fond of telling people that if the horse you are riding has died, beating it won't make it go any faster. As a teacher I have to be prepared to change what I am doing to meet the needs of the students before me. I cannot teach every lesson the same way, I certainly have to make adjustments from period to period as the mix of students changes. Most of all, I have to reflect constantly: before, during and after each lesson. What am I trying to accomplish? How will this work with these students? What isn't working now, and how can I adjust it on the fly? Looking back, what could/should I do differently, and why?
If you are in the classroom, perhaps you should see if there is a certificate that covers what you do. If you are an administrator or superintendent or school board member, you might consider encouraging the teachers with whom you interact to apply. It is not a one shot and out process, because only about 1/3 of those who apply make it on their first attempt. You can "bank" the scores on part of your portfolio and resubmit the parts that were found deficient. You have I believe an additional two years to get that accomplished. In the interim you are also improving your approach to your own teaching.
And if you are an administrator, the National Board people are in the process of developing a certification process for principals. Many of those of us certified as teachers have been asked to participate in that development process.
The certification is based around Core Propositions. The five applicable to teachers are as follows:
- Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning
- Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and How to Teach Those Subjects to Students
- Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning
- Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience
- Teachers are Members of Learning Communities
Each of these five is expanded with multiple points, for example, for #1:
* NBCTs are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all students. They believe all students can learn.
* They treat students equitably. They recognize the individual differences that distinguish their students from one another and they take account for these differences in their practice.
* NBCTs understand how students develop and learn.
* They respect the cultural and family differences students bring to their classroom.
* They are concerned with their students’ self-concept, their motivation and the effects of learning on peer relationships.
* NBCTs are also concerned with the development of character and civic responsibility.
All of our students deserve the best teaching possible. Those of us in the classroom have the responsibility to do our best to help that happen. The National Board process is rigorous and demanding, and my experience is that it makes the one who undertakes it a better and more effective teacher. I am proud of my NBCT status, and encourage others in education to consider applying. I have assisted others, both in my building in other schools, as they underwent the process.
I have in our building had the privilege of teaching the children of my fellow teachers who are NBCTs. The gentleman you see with the balloon and the Asian female with classes and graying hair have honored me with, respectively, two and three brilliant students. We had hoped to include them in the video, but ran out of time.
Watch the video. In case you have not already, here again is the link. Watch the dynamism of the teachers and the enthusiasm of the students. Is not that what you would want for your children, or for yourself were you still in the classroom?
Pass the link to the video on to others.
And thanks for reading this, and - I hope - watching the video.
Oh by the way, I am the guy with the graying hair and beard in the black polo shirt in the way too crowded temporary building. My role in the video is not that large. That's okay. I was honored to be included among so many wonderful and outstanding teachers.
Peace.