Five Wakulla County Teachers Achieve 2008 National Board Certification®

The teacher quality movement in Wakulla County has taken a major step forward following today’s announcement by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS®) that Tammi Light, a fourth grade teacher at Shadeville Elementary School, Brian Dow an eighth grade teacher at Riversprings Middle School, Tina Martindale, a first grade teacher at Shadeville Elementary School, Becky Carlan, the Band Director at Wakulla High School, and Bobbie Dotson, a second grade teacher at Riversink Elementary School have achieved National Board Certification in 2008. There are currently six more Wakulla County teachers working through the process.

{sidebar id=1}The Wakulla County School District School system continues to lead Florida school districts with one of the highest percentage of teachers certifying as National Board Teachers with a total reaching 11% of Wakulla’s teachers.

Superintendent David Miller praises their hard work. He shares, “The time, effort, and dedication that these teachers have committed to the education profession are commendable. I applaud their courage and fortitude in pursuing this prestigious certification. Research supports that national board certification is a force in student achievement and a factor in teaching excellence.”

“Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous criteria through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review,” said NBPTS President and CEO Joseph A. Aguerrebere.

National Board Certification is a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize and reward great teachers—and make them better. While state licensing systems set basic requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT®s) have successfully demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete. Overall, the first-year achievement rate is about 40 percent, culminating in an achievement rate of approximately 65 percent by the end of the third year.

For more information about NBPTS and National Board Certification, visit the NBPTS Web site at www.nbpts.org. To view the list of all Wakulla County NBCT’s visit www.wakullaschooldistrict.org and click on the purple National Board Certified Teachers tab.

This article originally published on December 10, 2008.

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