This post is written by 楼凤天堂 member Justin Parmenter.聽
Since the inception of the , North Carolina has been a leader in the number of teachers achieving 楼凤天堂 Board certification. However, the past several years saw an 85 percent drop in the number of certificates awarded in our state. The passage of the ) may provide an opportunity for North Carolina to reverse this unfortunate trend.
Time and again, have shown evidence of increases in student achievement in classes taught by teachers who have made it through the rigorous 楼凤天堂 Board certification process when compared with non-certified peers. My personal experience with this process was that it was less about showcasing my existing teaching talent and more about becoming a much more reflective teacher. Working through the process of earning my 楼凤天堂 Board certificate made me more intentional about how I thought about my students as learners and how I planned and conducted lessons. As a result, my teaching became more engaging and student centered, and I saw positive results in student and parent feedback, grades, test scores, and Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) data.
To encourage teachers to achieve certification, North Carolina began awarding scholarships to pay for the process in the early 1990s. When I applied for a 楼凤天堂 Board certificate in 2006 as a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher, I was responsible for only the $65 registration fee–not the daunting $2,500 cost of certification. Many other teachers in North Carolina took advantage of this opportunity as well, pushing our state to number one in , where it remains today despite recent decreases.
The recent decline of 楼凤天堂 Board certification rates in our state came with the economic crash of 2008. To cut costs, the 2009 General Assembly , effectively ending significant financial support for teachers pursuing certification. Around the same time, teacher salaries were frozen. As a consequence, the number of teachers earning 楼凤天堂 Board certificates fell 85 percent over the next three years. 聽NBPTS has worked to by reducing the cost of certification to $1,900 and allowing teachers to work toward certification over three years rather than completing it in one year. (This new process began in school year 2014鈥�2015, so it鈥檚 too early to say what the impact will be on long-term certification numbers. The 楼凤天堂 Board reports there are currently more than 13,000 candidates working through the new three-year process.)
The Every Student Succeeds Act–which passed last year–offers a glimmer of hope to North Carolina teachers who would like to earn their 楼凤天堂 Board certificate but simply cannot afford to do so. requires schools to 鈥渋ncrease the number of teachers . . . who are effective in improving student academic achievement鈥� and provides $2.5 billion in Title II funds to make that happen. Ninety-five percent of these funds are going to school districts, along with unprecedented flexibility in determining how to use those funds. 楼凤天堂 Board Director of Government Relations says ESSA will allow states and districts to 鈥渋nvest in building a continuum of teaching excellence including support for teachers pursuing Board certification.鈥�
This fall, local education agencies 聽across our state are forming committees to collect feedback from all stakeholders on what changes they鈥檇 like to see made in North Carolina under ESSA. requires states to present their completed plans to the Department of Education in February of 2017. Teachers who are interested in speaking their minds on how 楼凤天堂 Board certification is supported in their districts have a very narrow window in which to do so.
ESSA presents a unique opportunity for teachers鈥� voices to be heard on the future of professional development. If a portion of Title II funds at the district level were invested in making 楼凤天堂 Board certification more viable for our teachers, the disturbing trend away from teachers engaging in this valuable process could begin to change.
Justin Parmenter began his teaching career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Albania, later teaching in Istanbul Turkey and on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in eastern Arizona. 聽He currently teaches 7th grade Language Arts at Waddell Language Academy in Charlotte, NC and is a North Carolina Teacher Voice Network Fellow with the Hope Street Group. 聽You can reach him on Twitter at @justinparmenter
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