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Teacher earns national honor

BLUE SKY

Teacher earns national honor

The Franklin Special School District is proud to announce that one of its teachers has received this prestigious certification, as well as 2 others from Williamson County.

Our teacher is Dr. Ellen Anderson, a guidance counselor at Moore Elementary.

Certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards is a rigorous process. It affirms that a teacher has been judged by peers as one who is accomplished, makes sound professional judgments about student learning, and acts effectively on those judgments. The certification is a symbol of teaching excellence. Although voluntary, it is achieved through a rigorous performance-based assessment that takes nearly a year to complete.

The expense of application is reimbursed by the Franklin Special School District and, once certified, teachers receive a $4,000 annual bonus from the FSSD for the 10-year period of certification, which may be extended if the teacher completes a renewal process.

Dr. Anderson will be "pinned" at the next FSSD Board of Education meeting by a fellow National Board Certified teacher. Please let me know if you need any further information.

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The Tennessee Department of Education has announced that 51 Tennessee teachers have completed the requirements for National Board Certification as defined by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Meeting these standards requires teachers to demonstrate acumen beyond the basic requirements for a teaching license.

To date, 232 Tennessee teachers have earned National Board Certification.

“These teachers have voluntarily set a higher bar for their professional growth, which serves as a positive model to both students and colleagues,” Education Commissioner Lana Seivers said. “I commend teachers who strive to continually advance their knowledge of the profession and find new ways to reach every student they encounter.”

Candidates undergo a 10-part evaluation process specific to the teacher’s discipline, including performance assessments of teaching strategies and written exercises to assess subject knowledge. Certification typically takes between 200 and 400 hours over a one- to three-year period. College graduates who have been teaching and held a valid teaching license for three years are eligible to pursue National Board Certification.

All applicants must submit the following items as part of the evaluation portfolio:

• two video recordings of classroom teaching with a self-analysis and reflection
• one written analysis and reflection of a collection of student work
• documentation of work completed outside the classroom and evidence of how it has impacted student learning
• six online constructed response questions demonstrating subject-matter expertise, 30 minutes each

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an independent organization formed in 1987 in response to the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching Report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. The board is governed by teachers, school board members, higher education officials, legislators, business leaders, and community members. More than 50,000 teachers have to date have earned the distinction of National Board Certification.