Twelve Kansas educators were honored this week for joining an elite group of educators who have earned National Board Certification.
Tamara Hedenskog of Stony Point Elementary School in Kansas City, Kan., was among those honored.
The teachers, administrators, mentors and families for the recognition dinner held April 23 at Emporia State University.
National board certification is recognized nationwide as a model for identifying accomplished teaching practice. Teachers were notified in late November 2012 if they achieved the certification they worked for during the 2011-12 school year.
“Through working in education in Kansas, I knew these teachers before they started the process of becoming National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs),” said Kansas Commissioner of Education Diane DeBacker. "This shows NBCTs are the movers and shakers in education.”
While state licensing systems set the basic requirements to teach in each state, NBCTs have demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. National certification takes from one to three years to complete.
The accomplishment of national board certification benefits the teachers, the schools they work in, and studies have shown NBCTs improve student learning.
The program hosted at ESU, Great Plains Center for National Teacher Certification, has a 79 percent initial certification rate over the past seven years.
This is nearly twice the national initial certification rate of 40 percent. More information about ESU’s program can be found at www.emporia.edu/jones/nbpts/.
