Professional Journal Summary

Submitted by Tim Everson

November 23, 1998

I have been reading a number of online educational journals over the past few weeks. If anyone is interested in getting some URLs, let me know.

I have chosen to write about the article States Anteing up Supplements to Teachers Certified by Board by Jeff Archer. This article appeared in the November 18, 1998 issue of Education Week on the Web. (http://www.edweek.org/ew/current/12board.h18)

This article talks about the trend of teachers seeking to become nationally certified in their areas. The process takes about a year and costs the teacher around $2000 to apply. To become certified, the teachers must go through a year long process which involves videotaping their teaching, keeping journals, and completing a day long exam covering both teaching strategy and subject area content. The certification is good for a 10 year period. The national board that makes decisions on certification is composed of teachers.

Many states are offering monetary incentives for their teachers to become nationally certified and offer to pay the $2,000 application fee. As of yet, Minnesota as a state is not offering incentives. However, a number of schools around the Twin Cities are offering incentives for their teachers.

Some of the incentives are listed below by state:

Alabama: $1500 a year for 10-year life of certificate.

California: $10,000 one-time bonus.

Delaware: $1500 a year for 10-year life of certificate.

Florida: Pay increase equal to 10 percent of average teachers salary in the state for life of the certificate.

Georgia: 5 percent pay increase.

Iowa: $10,000 a year for 5 years

Kentucky: Approximately $2,000 in one-time bonus.

Mississippi: $6,000 a year for life of certificate.

North Carolina: 12 percent annual bonus for life of certificate.

Ohio: $2,500 annual bonus for life of certificate.

Oklahoma: $5,000 annual bonus for life of certificate.

South Carolina: $2,000 one-time bonus

Wisconsin: $2,500 one-time bonus

Source: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, state education departments.

The number of nationally certified teachers has grown from 912 to 1,836 in the past year and is expected to keep increasing. Both teachers and administration seemed pleased with the process. The process is rigorous with fewer than half of the teachers receiving national certification their first try. Archer states that because those standards are written by educators themselves, teachers tend to trust them more than evaluations based on their students test scores or on reviews by school administration. It is not only a good source for teachers to expand their educational horizons but also a way to increase their pay as well. I am going to do further research into the topic and feel the once our Masters Program is complete, I may look into this type of certification.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1998