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From left to right Sonia Rivera, Neil MacGaffey,
Nancy Kellogg and Al Huie |
Congratulations to the four teachers who have met the rigorous standards required to be a National Board Certified Teacher. Imperial County Board of Education recognized Al Huie, Nancy Kellogg, Neil MacGaffey and Sonia Rivera at their December 17th Board Meeting with a special reception. Administrators and teachers from their school sites and districts were present to celebrate the achievement with the honored teachers. Terry Clark, who has coached the candidates through the requirements, was present as well as another recent recipient of the certification from San Diego county, family and friends of the recipients, ICOE supporters, and Dana Arellano of Congressmen Bob Filner’s office.
Ms. Clark noted that “As teachers earn the certification the focus is on students and what teachers can do to improve student learning.” County Superintendent John Anderson praised each teacher for the hard work and extra effort required to obtain National Certification. “We know we have wonderful teachers in Imperial County, but few have gone through the process to obtain this level of recognition. We are very proud of our first National Board Certified teachers.”
The National Board Certification process requires intense self-reflection and analysis by the individual of the practices they are using in the classroom. It requires teachers to demonstrate subject matter knowledge via assessments, measure their practices against the highest standards for the profession, and submit portfolios that include direct evidence of their work and an analytical reflective commentary on the evidence. The process, in its entirety, is a forceful professional development experience.
Each teacher was congratulated by the trustees of the Board of Education, awarded a plaque in recognition of their success and afforded an opportunity to speak to the audience. Al Huie, Imperial County’s first teacher to meet the requirements in December 2002, felt it was, “a very long and grueling process, but very rewarding.” Nancy Kellogg agreed: “This has been a meaningful and gratifying process.”
The facilitators that help candidates prepare for the certification travel from San Diego once a month to meet with Imperial County teachers. This support is made possible through ICOE and is available for all Imperial County teachers willing to accept the challenge. Please contact Terry Clark, (619)517-4293 or Monica Mendoza 312-6606 for more information.
The following article was published in the Imperial Valley Press on December 4th and highlights each teacher.
Teachers earn national certification
By HEATHER BREMNER, Staff Writer
Thursday, December 4, 2003 2:26 PM PST
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Neil MacGaffey, an algebra and pre-calculus teacher
at Central Union High School in El Centro, helps sophomore
Ryan Bell, 16, with his algebra II assignment Wednesday.
HEATHER BREMNER PHOTO |
With the increasingly stringent requirements stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act, teachers throughout California are searching for ways to not only pad their résumés but make them better teachers.
Following in the footsteps of Calexico High School teacher Alfredo Huie — who in December 2002 became the first nationally certified teacher in Imperial County — three teachers from Brawley to Calexico earned the highly competitive credential. Brawley Union High School science teacher Nancy Kellogg, Central Union High School math teacher Neil MacGaffey and Kennedy Gardens Elementary School third-grade teacher Sonia Rivera all were notified Monday that they had achieved National Board Certification.
The three educators join 8,192 elementary and secondary teachers nationwide, who earned the prestigious credential in 2003. There are now 32,130 National Board Certified Teachers nationwide, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The certification is the highest credential in the teaching profession and is recognized by 49 states — meaning a teacher who has earned the credential is qualified for positions throughout the nation.
After paying a $2,300 fee, teachers are given three years to complete a series of performance-based assessments. Along with tests in their subject areas, teachers are required to write six 30-minute essays in the span of one morning and send in three portfolios. The first portfolio is a written essay on what their class had accomplished in a three- to 12-week allotment. The second two were videos wherein the educators had to demonstrate their teaching expertise. Kellogg, who was working on the certification with her husband, also a teacher at BUHS, passed every facet of the program the first time she applied. With a degree in biological science, Kellogg is one of those rare teachers who has a credential to teach a certain subject and teaches that subject. A major goal of the NCLB act is to improve the qualifications of teachers and clean up subject areas wherein, for example, P.E. teachers are conducting math classes. Kellogg embraces a creative and hands-on approach to what can often be perceived as a dry subject. Although she has taught science for eight years, Kellogg is the first to concede the tests in her subject matter "were harder than I thought they would be." Although both Kellogg and MacGaffey said the financial bonus was definitely an incentive, they continued to work toward the credential even after they learned the budget crisis had nixed the $10,000 cash payment from the state. Still, the state will pay $5,000 a year for five years to a teacher who stays in a district that has been identified as an underachieving school.
Besides enabling teachers the possibility of mobility, if they would like to move to a state in any other district, it's a safety net. "It's sort of an investment policy to have, which you may or may not need," said Kellogg. MacGaffey and Rivera have been working toward certification for the past two years. Rivera, who has taught bi-lingual education at Kennedy Gardens in Calexico for 15 years, said seeking the accreditation really forced her to look objectively at her teaching style and ask herself, "What do I really look like in the classroom, not what I think I look like."
Many teachers attend staff development meetings in hotel conference halls, where a child is nowhere in sight, but while working toward their NBC teachers have to show the board their accomplishments in the classroom, said Rivera. "The key ingredient for me was formative assessment," she said. "(I had) to check, reflect, correct and then do it again." MacGaffey, who has taught algebra and pre-calculus at Central High in El Centro for 10 years and has a degree and credential in math, said seeking the accreditation forced him to really assess his effectiveness as an educator. Finding a way to engage an entire math class in a discussion about exponentials was one of the most difficult feats he had ever tackled in his career. After two years he broke through and discovered that if a teacher is engaging and creative, students will become excited about even a subject like algebra. "It was a good way to reflect on my teaching method and whether I'm getting through to the kids," he said.
Founded 16 years ago, NBPTS is an independent, nonprofit, non-partisan organization designed to advance the quality of teaching and student learning.