Wake County Ranks No. 1 In State
Teachers Mindy King and Shelley Thacker know a thing or two about what it takes to become National Board Certified – they each spent a year going through the process, including a week-long training conference at Harvard University.
RALEIGH – North Carolina boasts 12,772 National Board Certified Teachers, 1,259 of them in Wake County, the largest number of certified teachers of any county in the state. With this wealth of highly-trained teachers in our community, what does this mean for the teachers, the schools, the students? King, Thacker and other administrators reflect on how these teachers serve their communities and what it means to be certified.
“Studies show that students with board certified teachers achieve at higher levels. This helps students, teachers and the system. Ultimately, the community will be served by our current students and we have an obligation to give them the best education possible,” said Mindy King, 5th grade teacher at Vance Elementary School in Raleigh.
When asked how the certification benefits the teachers, students and system overall, King said that obtaining the certification gave her a feeling of accomplishment and a better understanding of her teaching in the classroom. Specifically, King describes something of a pyramid of achievement.
Via the certification process, teachers reflect on their teaching methods and become more aware of the best standards and practices in the classroom. King continued, “The students gain in my knowledge of reflecting on my teaching and improving my teaching methods. For the system, it demonstrates having high quality teachers instructing the students.”
Vance Elementary Principal Donald Rose agrees, “We encourage and support all of our teachers interested in obtaining their certification. It’s a great achievement for the teachers, the school and the students get the benefit of having better teachers. It’s a win win.”
Overall teachers acquiring their National Board Certifications is viewed a good thing for the teachers, students and the school systems. However, there are some downsides. President and CEO National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Joseph A. Aguerrebere, ED.D. brings to light issues such as certified teachers being less likely to work in low-income schools, which in many cases, is just where these teacher are needed.
Certified teachers have to get re-certified every 10 years at a cost of $1000-$1500. The initial certification costs are around $2500 and some teachers like Shelley Thacker are able to get funding from the state to help cover the costs.
Thacker, who is in her 12th year of teaching 5th grade at Root Elementary School in Raleigh, describes the year-long certification process as a grueling one involving writing several lengthy papers, video taping, compiling a portfolio and taking a 3-hour test.
The teachers felt that the certification process could use some streamlining and a better support system. While overall they felt it was a positive move for their careers, the students and the system. Better pay and the near guarantee of better jobs were factors in their decision to get certified as well.
“There are positives and negatives to these certifications. A positive is that we end up with some great teachers. A negative is that these teachers are harder to hold onto,” said James Mack, Principal at Root Elementary.
Mack speaks from experience, having lost King to Vance Elementary last year.
Teachers who endure the certification process do it for not only the recognition for themselves, the school systems and ultimate benefit to the students. They also have their career goals in mind.
King, who is in her 9th year of teaching, says she ultimately hopes the certification will lead to graduate school and possibly becoming a teacher trainer. King feels that to truly improve the education system, there must be a better system in place to recruit better teachers.
There were differing views on the level of encouragement and support within the school system. King felt that support was lacking, while Thacker boasted about the mentors and help sessions provided to teachers pursuing certification.
Both certified in 2007, King and Thacker agreed that they would continue with getting re-certified every 10 years.
Quick Facts:
- National Board for Professional Teaching Standards founded in 1987
- 25 certificate areas that cover 15 subject areas and are classified into seven student age categories
- To be eligible teachers have to have 3 years of experience
- The certification is voluntary
- There are salary and job incentives for certified teachers
- Teachers and school systems gain recognition
To learn more about Wake County Schools: http://www.wcpss.net/
