Carolann Wade, Wake County Public School System Coordinator for National Board Certification, is one of ten National Board Certified Teachers who wrote Measuring What Matters: The Effects of National Board Certification on Advancing 21st Century Teaching and Learning for the Center for Teaching Quality. Wade says WCPSS teachers who have completed the certification process are having an impact in their schools. She points to Glennda McKeithan of Knightdale High.
McKeithan is a Special Education teacher who mentors new teachers, coaches National Board candidates, does presentations, develops and shares materials for candidates and coaches, assesses portfolio entries for National Board and teaches a course at Peace College.
Before becoming certified, McKeithan was focused on what was going on in her classroom and didn’t get involved in what was going on in the school community. The certification process required McKeithan to step outside her comfort zone, collaborate with more people, and get involved.
“It forced me to learn to collaborate more, to be more flexible, to be willing to adjust my practice and not focus on only what has worked in the past, but to continue to evolve and find new things,” said McKeithan.
She says National Board certified teachers at Knightdale High communicate with each other and are active in their community.
“They are department chairs. They served on leadership committees. They sponsor clubs and activities like the National Honor Society or the Student Government Association,” said McKeithan. “They are involved in different businesses outside in the community to get resources for the school. They might teach secondary classes at universities, or coach other teachers interested in certification.
McKeithan says certified teachers are connected across the school district through Wade who supplies them with information about opportunities in the school system and with Wake County groups seeking the help of education professionals.
In the report she co-authored, Wade joined in a call to action urging National Board Certified Teachers to build their leadership and the teaching profession by:
* Establishing and growing local and state networks dedicated to educational problem-solving and innovation.
* Adding to the knowledge base about effective teaching through classroom-based research that documents and spreads ideas about practice.
* Becoming informed and active participants in the discourse about educational policy matters, from the building level to the national arena.
* Serving in mentoring, peer coaching and other instructional leadership roles that support colleagues who are striving to improve their practice.
* Speaking out on key questions and issues, from a teaching perspective.
* Designing collaborative experiences for professional learning and leadership development, creating a robust vision of what it means to be an effective teacher leader and pursuing that vision together.
Reported by Wake County Public School System.
