Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is Now More Affordable
When Anna Baldwin, an English teacher at Arlee High School in Arlee, Montana, and the 2014 Montana Teacher of the Year, wanted to up her teaching game she looked no further than National Board Certification. For the past 25 years, the National Board has advanced the teaching profession by establishing and maintaining the definitive standards of accomplished teaching and certifying more than 100,000 teachers across the country against those rigorous standards.
“I knew National Board certification made sense. I knew it would be a gift to myself – a way to address my own needs as a teacher and reignite the passion for reaching every student,” says Baldwin.
But she didn’t want to go through the process alone. She wanted colleagues to share the experience with her so they could support each other and learn from each other. With the help of new changes that allow educators to complete the rigorous certification process over a longer period of time at a lower cost, Baldwin was able to recruit more educators to join her on the journey to National Board Certification.
Getting more certified teachers was the goal of the National Board’s changes to the certification process. The hope is to make the process more flexible and efficient while maintaining the integrity and transformative nature of National Board Certification.
But before Baldwin could show her colleagues that the process had become less cumbersome, she first had to introduce them to it.
“In a tiny rural district, some of the steps required by the National Board process can present barriers, and only a few of my colleagues were on board with National Board because they simply didn’t know what it could offer them or had not even heard of it,” she says.
She sent an email to all the district teachers with short-form information, including the purpose of National Board certification and the benefits, scheduled an informational session after school, and arranged for some local National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) to come and give an overview.
Less Barriers to Certification
For educators unfamiliar with it, the mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; provide a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards; and to advocate for related education reforms that integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers.
some of the steps required by the National Board process can present barriers, and only a few of my colleagues were on board with National Board because they simply didn’t know what it could offer them or had not even heard of it” – Anna Baldwin, teacher
Recognized as the “gold standard” in teacher certification, the National Board believes higher standards for teachers means better learning for students.
With increasing pressure on educators to prove themselves in a constantly changing education landscape, board certification allows teachers to hone their practice, showcase their talent in the classroom, and demonstrate their dedication to their students and their profession. It’s available in 25 certificate areas represent a consensus among educators about what accomplished, effective teachers should know and be able to do to improve student learning and achievement.
But as Baldwin noted, the process presented barriers for some educators. Candidates used to have to complete the rigorous, comprehensive certification Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is Now More Affordable: