Record number of Durham teachers receives national board certification
December 3, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Calvin Dobbins, Associate Superintendent, Administrative Services, 560-3736
DURHAM--Thirty-two Durham Public Schools teachers have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the highest number ever to be certified in the district in one school year. This brings the total number of teachers certified while serving in Durham Public Schools to 94.
The certification process is an extremely rigorous one in which teachers are asked to thoroughly assess their classroom performance. It includes submission of extensive portfolios, student work samples, and videotapes of applicant teachers’ classroom style. Exhaustive written exercises delving into the applicants’ knowledge of subject matter also are required, along with a final exam.
Achieving NBPTS certification can pay off literally as well as figuratively. North Carolina teachers receive a 12 percent salary bonus from the state along with their certification. The 32 certified teachers will be honored at a dinner hosted by Superintendent Ann T. Denlinger and the Board of Education at the Washington Duke Inn in early 2003.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and non-governmental agency whose mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do; to develop and operate a national, voluntary certification system to assess and certify teachers who meet these standards; and, to advance related education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools.
"The quality of our leaders in the classroom is of paramount importance as Durham Public Schools pursues its dual goals of having at least 95 percent of all third-graders reading at proficiency and closing the Achievement Gap by 2007," said Dr. Denlinger. "The astounding level of commitment displayed by these talented teachers who have worked so hard to achieve national certification serves as a beacon of excellence for all educators and supporters of public education."
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Attached: 2002 Durham Public Schools National Board Certified Teachers
