The SEVA NBCT Regional Network... WELCOME!

Better Teaching, Better Learning, Better Schools... Come on BOARD!     NBPTS PRESS RELEASE Northrop To Help Teachers Earn National Certification Math and science teachers in Hampton Roads can seek funding on a first-come, first-served basis. Northrop Grumman has announced that it will provide financial support to math and science teachers in Newport News and other Hampton Roads school districts who want to earn National Board Certification. Funds will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to teachers who work in schools where at least 50 percent of the students qualify for federally subsidized meal programs. The voluntary program is administered by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, a 20-year-old nonprofit organization that developed teaching standards and a process for evaluating whether elementary, middle and high school teachers meet them. Teachers usually take about three years to complete the process, which includes building portfolios of student work samples, assignments, lesson plans, video recordings of lessons and essays about their work in the classroom. They also take a battery of at least six tests related to the subjects they teach. A team of teachers selected by the board assesses each portfolio and decides whether the teacher meets National Board Certification standards. Nationally, more than 64,000 teachers have earned the certification, with 285 in Virginia. Locally more than 120 teachers are National Board certified, which qualifies them for extra money from the state and from school districts. Northrop Grumman also is providing scholarship support to teachers in Northern Virginia; Baltimore; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Huntsville, Ala.; Long Island, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; the Mississippi Delta region; St. Augustine, Fla.; and Louisiana. By CATHY GRIMES | 247-4758 August 23, 2008 National Board Certification's Positive Impact on Student Achievement In an extensive, multi-year report, the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies released the most comprehensive study to date of National Board Certification®. The report formally affirmed the National Board's positive impact on student achievement, teacher retention and professional development. We are pleased that the NRC recognized that the National Board Certification process identifies teachers who raise student test scores. The committee found that students taught by National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) make higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by teachers who have not applied for certification and by teachers who have not achieved it. 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. The NRC also acknowledged previous research showing that National Board Certification has a positive impact on teacher retention. NBCTs are more likely to stay in teaching longer than other teachers, according to the NRC. This research study, announced on June 11, 2008, provides a useful evaluation framework that we can use now and in the future to continuously monitor, evaluate and improve NBPTS Standards and the National Board Certification assessment process--especially in implementing many of the recommendations put forth in the report. Joseph A. Aguerrebere NBPTS President and CEO NBPTS Appoints National Board Certified Teacher Jolynn E. Tarwater as Teacher-in-Residence NBPTS has appointed Jolynn E. Tarwater, an NBCT from Potomac, Md., as Teacher-in-Residence. Tarwater is serving a yearlong residency as NBPTS liaison with the NBCT community and NBCT networks, primarily using technology-focused facilitation and networking strategy skills. She will also serve as program manager for NBCT programs and initiatives, including NBCTLink, the social networking Web site for NBCTs. National Board Facts National Board Certification is a symbol of professional teaching excellence. It was created so that teachers, like professionals in other fields, can achieve distinction by demonstrating through a demanding performance assessment that they meet high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Mission: To advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high and rigorus standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; providing a national voluntary system certifying those teachers who meet those standards, and; advocating related education reforms to integrateNational Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers. Governance: NBPTS is an independant, nonprofit, nonpatisan and non-governmental organization governed by a board of directors, with the majority of its members being classroom teachers. Other directors include school administrators, school board leaders, governors and state legislators, higher education officials, representatives, representatives from teachers' unions and disciplinary organizations, and business and community leaders. History: Created in 1987 in response to the 1983 President's Commission on Excellence in Education report. A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, and the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy's Task Force on Teaching as a Profession report, A Nation Prepares: Teachers for the 21st Century. National Board Certification: Based on core propositions and standards describing what teachers should know and be able to do, the process of National Board Certification is a forceful professional development experience. Teachers are strengthed in their practice and the beneficiaries of their improvement are the students in their classrooms. Teachers must demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a series of performance-based assessments that include student work samples, videotapes, and rigorous analyses of their classroom teachingand student learning. Written examples probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students. It is offered on a voluntary basis. While state licensing systems set requirments to teach in each state, National Board Certification establishes high and rigorous advanced standards for experienced teachers to demonstrate accomplished practice. A National Board Certificate is valid for 10 years. It is available to all teachers who hold a baccalaureate degree, have taught for a minimum of three years, whether in a public or private school, and have held a valid state teaching license for those three years. Available Certificates: Generalist Early Childhood Certificate (ages 3-8) Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 7-12) Art Early and Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 3-12) Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+) Career and Technical Education Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+) English as a New Language Early and Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 3-12) Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+) English Language Arts Early Adolescence Certificate (ages 11-15) Library Media Early Childhood through Young Adulthood (ages 3-18+) Literacy: Reading-Language Arts Early and Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 3-12) Mathematics Early Adolescence Certificate (ages 11-15) Adolescence and Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 14-18+) Music Early and Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 3-12) Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+) Physical Education Early and Middle Childhood Certificate (ages 3-12) Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+) School Counseling Early Childhood through Young Adulthood (ages 3-18+) Science Early Adolescence Certificate (ages 11-15) Adolescence and Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 14-18+) Social Studies-History Early Adolescence Certificate (ages 11-15) Adolescence and Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 14-18+) World Languages Other than English Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Certificate (ages 11-18+)