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Grounded Values, Global Venues

We want our children to learn and respect all that we ourselves value. This takes pride – pride in the knowledge of what was here before us, what we have now and what we hope will be here later. This community pride is achieved through education. It is a sharing of life that our children learn from us and, ultimately, we learn from them.

Entering Barrington High School, you can’t help but notice how clean and quiet everything is. The few people in the halls smile and everything seems rather peaceful. Then you realize classes are in full swing with teachers teaching and students learning. Jeffrey Doles and his Digital Arts/Video students are getting ready for a presentation. In costuming from the movie The Incredibles – an animated movie on parents, children and change — Jeff (photo-plain red shirt) and three of his students, Tim Stedman (Mr. Incredible costume), Kyle Schultz (bottom-left) and Kyle Simonsen (bottom-right) stood poised and ready for action.

At Barrington Middle School-Station Campus, Richard Schroeder’s (right) eighth-grade history class was giving individual PowerPoint presentations. One student had a slideshow on Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss – writer/illustrator) and another student’s presentation was on Vincent Damon Furnier (Alice Cooper – musician). When asked about content for the assignment, Richard said, “The kids love Dr. Seuss – can’t get enough of his books and we even found a good outlet for obtaining more.” As for Alice Cooper, he said, “It’s been a while since I’ve listened to any of his music, I think I’ll have to…soon.”

Jeffrey Doles and Richard Schroeder are just two teachers in Barrington who have gone that extra step in bringing quality education to their schools.

Barrington teachers have a working, self-examining commitment to learning – for both your child and themselves. This commitment boosts community pride to a new level. The 2006/2007 school season alone witnessed a growth in the learning process that encompassed our children and our teachers – but this growth did not happen overnight. A group of Barrington teachers did a little soul-searching to see if what they were doing was actually the best they had to offer. So early in the new millennia, many of them voluntarily started working to better their own standards in order to better the classroom standards for our children. Now, through the combined efforts of local teachers, Barrington School District 200 and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), 10 teachers have achieved a level of excellence in teaching and learning that is second to none. These teachers wanted their personal best to be exactly that – the best they could give.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), with 20 years of developmental research in teaching standards, helped these teachers look outside the box and literally scrutinize their own teaching habits through the volunteer National Board of Certified Teachers (NBCT) program. What they found was a community of other educators with the same concerns about the quality of education for all children. “In terms of my motivation to go through the NBCT process, it was a goal of mine from my first years of teaching,” said Richard Schroeder. “The idea of focusing on your practice to become better through reflection and analysis was something that really appealed to me. I knew that the process would make me a better teacher and that was the ultimate goal.” This goal was no easy assignment. Through strict guidelines and standards, the NBCT requires teachers to:

• Submit portfolios over the course of one school year to include curriculum, class instruction (videotaping) and their personal/community life. It is designed to capture teaching in real-time, real-life settings, thus allowing trained assessors to examine how teachers translate knowledge and theory into practice.

• Assess their work through a series of tests aimed to demonstrate that the knowledge and skills exhibited in their portfolio is an accurate reflection of each candidate’s ability.

“I believe it is important for everyone, especially teachers, to continually challenge themselves to further their skills and develop into the true professionals they aspire to become,” said Jeff Doles. “Participating in the National Board certification process allowed me to demonstrate my current teaching practices, thereby strengthening my teaching through peer validation, encouragement and support of my curriculum and instruction.”

To be a successful candidate, a teacher must have completed all required portfolio entries, assessment center exercises and meet the performance standard of 275 points. This is a peer-defined program, created by teachers for teachers. A committee of educators representing a full spectrum of actual classroom teachers and educational experts developed the NBCT standards. “The program forces you to think about your teaching and the way you teach,” said John Roncone (photo above), US History and AP Human Geography teacher at Barrington HS. “It is a reaffirmation to education. In practice, the transition was smooth for my class and me.” The National Board certifies teachers for a period of 10 years, after which time NBCTs have the opportunity to maintain their standing by satisfying a renewal requirement.

“Teachers teach themselves, students and other teachers,” added Pamela Duncan (photo-below), Physics and English Language Learners (ELL) Biology teacher at Barrington HS. “The mentoring program brings new candidates into the NBCT and in turn, helps keep you fresh in your own craft during those 10 years of certification. Compared to the standards set by the National Board, the GREs (Graduate Record Examinations) were a cakewalk.”

What this means for the National Board of Certified Teachers is that everyone involved in setting the strict developmental process standards, as defined in the NBCT program, has a working knowledge of what is needed, how well it works and its ultimate validity for the classroom. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards offers 24 certificates in a variety of subject areas and student developmental levels that are applicable to more than 95% of America’s teachers.

The National Board of Certified Teachers
program has five core propositions that candidates are required to follow in demonstrating an overall excellence in teaching:

1. A Commitment to the Students’ Learning is a vital component attained by making knowledge accessible, anchored in a belief that all can learn. It is to treat all equitably with an understanding of how personal character, peer relationships, developmental and cultural differences affect a students’ ability to learn.

2. Subject Knowledge that shows teachers possess a mastery of the subject(s) they teach with the necessary skill and experience for classroom understanding.

3. Responsibility & Management of Student Learning to keep students engaged, motivated and focused toward learning. A teacher will ensure measurable methods of progress are in place for the individual student, the entire class and parental explanations of student performance.

4. To Think Systematically & Learn from Experience by modeling what they teach and staying current in educational issues. They will reexamine teaching practices on a regular basis for expansion and incorporating new skills.

5. Being a Member of Learning Communities means that NBCT members network with peers, local community groups and businesses, other professionals and especially parents to improve student learning.

In 2000, Barrington had its first National Board Certified Teacher, Valerie Pientka. Barrington School District #220 developed a pilot National Board Support Class in 2002 that later became part of the 2005 Barrington Education Association contract. It provided incentives and support for up to five teachers per year to pursue National Board certification. Now, at the end of the 2006/2007 school year, Barrington has 10 accredited NBCT teachers. This is largely thanks to the efforts of Valerie Pientka and Kathy Brady, two of the first teachers in District #200 to gain certification and who are currently teaching the class that supports teachers in the process. When you look at this on a national level, Illinois ranked fourth in terms of new NBCTs and eighth in total number of teachers who are now certified (January 2007). Kathy Brady, North Barrington Elementary School teacher stated, “It was a challenge – a positive challenge – to look forward, toward the future of education, by taking a closer look at your current teaching practices.” Through peer mentoring, a key component of the program, NBCTs acknowledge the commitment fellow educators have given in making the program a success in Barrington. Jeff Doles said, “A special thanks to Barrington Middle School-Station Campus art teacher Valerie Pientka for all of her help getting me through the National Board Certification process.” John Roncone adds, “I see more teachers becoming involved with the NBCT in the near future as program awareness grows. The program’s value is exemplified through District #220 support and fellow NBCT mentors Val Pientka and Kathy Brady.” All teachers involved in certification recognize the importance of an overall commitment to their craft, their peers and their students. Megan Oster (North Barrington Elementary School): “It is a means to examine your professional growth and to look at your personal teaching techniques.”

Heather Crandall (Barbara Rose Elementary School): “The National Board exemplifies good teaching habits and District #200 adds the necessary respect and resources needed to make it all work.”

Anne Bucy (Grove Avenue Elementary School): “The challenge was there and District #200 made it possible. After completion of the NBCT it helped me think more about why I am teaching this way, rather than intuitively.”

Susan Loeschen (Roslyn Road Elementary School): “For me, completion of the NBCT meant a way to improve my craft. The mentoring helped me to articulate the ‘hows & whys’ to new candidates, making their transition easier. It was a way to charge and energize other teachers - a total sharing of talent to reach our children.”

National Board Certification teachers have overwhelmingly stated that this is the most powerful professional development experience of their careers. The experience changes them as professionals and the process deepens their content knowledge – helping them develop, master and reflect on new approaches to working with their students. Richard Schroeder summed it up best when he said, “The idea of focusing on your practice to become better through reflection and analysis was something that really appealed to me. I knew that the process would make me a better teacher and that was the ultimate goal. As for lessons learned – first and foremost would be the importance of always seeking to improve. That lesson applies to all areas of life, especially life in the classroom. Organization was also one skill that developed through the process – it was a necessity! Luckily, I had many different support structures in place – my wife, mentors, colleagues, etc. – that fostered my successful completion of the process. Really, without those supports in place, the entire process would be far more difficult. Barrington demonstrates a quality in terms of parent involvement, community feeling and the pursuit of excellence in educating the children of the community.”

Congratulations to the NBCTs and the Barrington community for having this ‘quality’ to rely on for the future.

For more information on the National Board Certified Teachers program, please visit the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards website at: http://www.nbpts.org/