W.Va. Teachers Earn National Board Certification

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December 15, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia is ranked 20th nationwide with the addition of nearly 90 new National Board Certified teachers to its roles, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards announced Wednesday on National Board Certification Day. Overall, West Virginia is 24th with 580 National Board Certified Teachers, outpacing much larger states, such as Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Colorado, among others.

“National Board Certified teachers not only have to prove they know their subject matter, but they also must provide evidence they know how to effectively teach their subjects to students,” said state Superintendent Steve Paine. “National Board Certified Teachers know how to bridge the gap between what students learn today and what they need to know to be successful in the 21st century. Teachers who receive the national certification are clearly among America’s best.”  

Across the county, about 91,000 of some of the most effective teachers in the country have demonstrated that they meet the highest teaching standards by becoming National Board certified. This year, West Virginia increased its National Board Certified Teachers by 17.4 percent, compared to a national average of 10 percent. West Virginia’s 2011 Teacher of the Year Drema McNeal of Raleigh County is among them. Overall, Wood County has the most nationally certified teachers in West Virginia with 68, followed by Cabell with 49; Monongalia, 42; Putnam, 28; and Berkeley, 27.

West Virginia’s 86  teachers receiving certification in 2010 are:

Barbour County: Angela McDaniel; Berkeley: Brandy Butcher, Jeremy Knight, Deborah Stevens, Erin Sponaugle; Braxton: Vada Woodford; Brooke: Candice Owens; Cabell: Michelle Brooks, MaryBeth Freeman, Kara Loving, Crystal Wheeler; Fayette: Carol Learmonth; Gilmer: Amber Frashure; Grant: Heather Yakubow; Greenbrier: Connie Crowe, Cindy Durham, Kimberly Tincher; Harrison: Billie Brooks, Daryle Maher, Helen Roberts, Jenna Williams; Jackson: Jessica Cox, Sarah Lawless, Susan Matheny, Kathy Simmons, Violet Smith; Jefferson: Kelly Heldreth; Kanawha: Melissa Given, Alison Stevenson, Bridget Phillips; Lincoln: Lori Huffman, Bethann Joyce, Jenny McClung, Carolyn Topping; Logan: Janet Hanshaw; Marion: Christina Gouzd, Kathryn Jacquez; Mercer: Rebecca Dunford, Ami Lester, Andrea Barr, Michelle Keeney, Tracy Samosky; Mineral: Heidi Bradshaw, Janet Cosner; Elizabeth Knotts, Janey Moore, Kerri Staggers; Mingo: Alichia Cline Marsico, Amy Salmons, Sonya Picklesimer, Melissa Webb; Monongalia: Emily Bragg, Joel Cotter, Patricia Kuhlman, Ellen Minter, Marilyn Newcome, Carmen Pride, Christina Rollins, Jessica Wise; Nicholas: Lori Cvetnick, Christina Tinney; Ohio: Peter Chacalos, Renee Marchese, Melissa Potter, Bronson Shanley, John Witzberger; Pocahontas: Mary Burns; Putnam: Helen Durgin, Natalie Dunn Breedlove, Janessa Noel; Preston: Mary Zeigler; Raleigh: Tammy Acord, Amanda Meadows, Drema McNeal, Diana Thompson-Mills; Ritchie: Kathy Jones; Tucker: Teresa Brusak; Upshur: Sherri Butler, Kelley Caynor, Janet Phillips, Sharon Walton; Wood: Lisa Barnard, Karen McGlaughlin, Elizabeth Surface, Debra Whitaker Dewees; Wyoming: Alisha Deskins.

Founded in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization. Its mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. National Board Certification is a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize and reward great teachers—and make them better.

“What you have in National Board Certified Teachers are change agents,” said former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors. “Many of these outstanding teachers are assuming leadership roles in schools and leading reform efforts in their districts and states. National Board Certification is changing the culture of learning in classrooms, schools and districts.”

 

While state licensing systems set basic requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certified Teachers have successfully demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete. As part of the process, teachers build a portfolio that includes student work samples, assignments, videotapes and a thorough analysis of their classroom teaching. Additionally, teachers are assessed on their knowledge of the subjects they teach.

 
For more information about NBPTS and National Board Certification, contact the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Professional Preparation at (304) 558-7010, or the Office of Communications at (304) 558-2699. Information also is available on the NBPTS website at www.nbpts.org.
 
--The West Virginia Board of Education and the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) are committed to ensuring all students in the state are college and career ready when they graduate from a public school. What West Virginia students are learning in school exceeds national and international standards. Through the WVDE’s 21st century learning plan called “Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it.,” West Virginia is seeing better student performance on the West Virginia Educational Standards Test 2 (WESTEST2); the SAT and the ACT college entrance exams; the job skills assessment called Work Keys given to career and technical education students; and in a high school graduation rate that exceeds the national average. 
 

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