Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/252703
AEA Advocate x Spring 2014 15 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Nation's Corps of Accomplished Teachers Grows This past December, more than 4,000 teachers nationwide learned the exciting news that they have achieved National Board Certification, demonstrating the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully prepare students for 21st century careers. To date, more than 106,000 teachers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have achieved the profession's highest mark of accomplishment through a rigorous, performance-based, peer- review process. Arizona added 122 National Board Certified teachers to a total of 1,078. Recently, results from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) triggered renewed concern as the scores of U.S. 15-year-olds showed no improvement and were below average in math and science. The United States places close to the middle of the pack among the 65 countries and economies that participated in the PISA. "It's no surprise that the countries where students perform well on the PISA, like Singapore and Finland, are the same ones that are investing deeply in creating a world-class teaching workforce," said Ronald Thorpe, president and CEO of the National Board. "To join them, we are working with our partners to ensure that every novice teacher is on a trajectory towards accomplished practice. Board certification must become the norm as it is in other professions. This will require a strong and unified commitment across teacher preparation, development, and leadership as we know it." "Most important," Thorpe added, "we have to make sure that quality teaching is as prevalent in schools serving poor communities as it is in more affluent ones. We're proud that nearly half of all Board-certified teachers are working in high-need schools, but we have yet to reach the tipping point. To get the results we all seek for all students, particularly our most vulnerable, we need to have a high concentration of accomplished teachers working where they can make the greatest difference." This vision is taking hold in states and districts across the country that are working collaboratively to build a quality teaching workforce that is sustainable. Groups representing teachers and administrators in Kentucky, Nevada, New York, and Washington State, as well as in the San Francisco and Albuquerque school districts, are partnering with each other and the National Board to increase teacher effectiveness across the career continuum. As part of this effort, the sites will recruit National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) as teacher leaders in high-need schools, particularly in the STEM subjects. The project is funded by a $15 million Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. "The stakes are high as expectations for students and teachers continue to rise with the demands of the global economy," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "Students today must be able to solve problems by applying what they have learned in new and unexpected ways. As our nation's most accomplished educators, National Board Certified Teachers are well positioned to move our students, workforce, and country forward." Washington State gained the most NBCTs with 516 teachers achieving in 2013. States that experienced the largest growth in their ranks of NBCTs in 2013 were Wyoming (17 percent), Hawaii (14 percent), and Montana (14 percent). North Carolina continues to lead the nation with more than 20,000 teachers in the state achieving Board certification to date. Each of these states benefits from strong systems of peer support and mentoring for candidates, state and district incentives for certification, and recognition of the importance of Board certification from union leaders to state legislators. But every community has its own unique National Board story. • Alabama: Three years ago, Piedmont City Schools Superintendent Matt Akin offered to pay the cost of certification for any teacher who chose to pursue it. In that short time, the small, rural district in Northeastern Alabama, where 63 percent of students receive free and reduced lunch, has gone from having no NBCTs to having Continued on next page Spring.14advo.indd 15 1/28/14 5:11 PM