Teacher training partnership to honor first group to achieve national board certification

By Mike Frontiero and Terry Dozier

RICHMOND, Va. – The Metropolitan Educational Training Alliance (META), a partnership of the Chesterfield County Public Schools, Hanover County Public Schools, Henrico County Public Schools and Richmond City public schools and the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, will host a ceremony honoring its first group of teachers to achieve National Board Certification. The partnership was formed in 2001 to meet the professional development and training needs of teachers, administrators and other educational personnel.

The ceremony will be held Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. in the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave., Commonwealth Ballroom B.

Several state and local education officials will attend, including VCU School of Education Dean William C. Bosher, Virginia Secretary of Education Belle S. Wheelan, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jo Lynne DeMary, Virginia House of Delegates Committee on Education member William R. Janis, and Virginia Education Association President Jean Bankos.

“Through the development of META, the VCU School of Education has asked our partner school divisions to tell us how we might assist with training priorities,” said Bosher. “Their first joint effort was to significantly increase the number of teachers who could achieve National Board Certification. It is now a reality.” 

A group of 55 teachers participated in the second META cohort this year, showing an increased interest in the yearlong certification process. 

“The increased interest is a sign that the certification process is a valuable professional development experience for teachers, and they feel there is strong support from VCU and their school divisions,” said Terry Dozier, Ed.D., national teacher in residence at VCU's School of Education and a former national teacher of the year. Dozier coordinates and plans classes for META.

When the VCU META support program started in Sept. 2001, 142 teachers in Virginia were NBPTS certified, only one of whom was in the metro-Richmond area. Now, their numbers have grown to 412 statewide with 19 in Richmond.

VCU will use the META model to set up support programs in other parts of the state for teachers who seek National Board Certification.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and non-governmental organization whose mission is to establish high and rigorous standards of what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Offered on a voluntary basis, NBPTS certification complements, but does not replace, state licensing. It is a professional certification increasingly used by states and local communities as a way to identify and reward exemplary teachers.  Despite tough budget times, the General Assembly has appropriated a $5,000 salary bonus in the first year for all teachers who achieve National Board Certification and $2,500 each remaining year for the life of the certificate. The META divisions provide additional incentives for their National Board Certified Teachers.

Teachers who seek National Board Certification must complete demanding assessments of their knowledge and skills. They develop a school-site portfolio that includes student work samples, video clips of effective lessons, and reflective commentaries about their use of strategies that increase student learning. In addition, candidates must respond to test questions that demonstrate the depth and breadth of their subject matter knowledge. Through this yearlong, systematic analysis of their teaching practice, teachers deepen their knowledge of subject matter and become more skilled in daily classroom instruction and student assessment.  A National Board Certificate attests that a teacher has met the highest standards established for the profession.