Four D15 teachers successfully renew their National Board certification

Four District 15 teachers have successfully renewed their certification as National Board Certified Teachers with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

National Board Certification is an advanced teaching credential achieved upon successful completion of a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers who meet high standards based on what teachers should know and be able to do. As part of the certification process, candidates complete ten assessments that are reviewed by trained teachers in their certificate areas. The assessments include four portfolio entries that feature teaching practices and six constructed response exercises that assess content knowledge.

Renewing that certification is a rigorous process that begins in a teacher's eighth year of certification and takes one to two years to complete. During this time, teachers reflect on their professional growth since originally becoming National Board Certified Teachers. They must demonstrate growth in their knowledge of content and research-based pedagogy, provide evidence of how they have incorporated these into their teaching practice, demonstrate how they have worked as teacher leaders, and demonstrate increased impact on student learning—both direct and indirect.

District 15 teachers who have successfully completed the process this year are:

· Amy Berry, a fourth-grade teacher at Pleasant Hill School

· Elizabeth Blazejak, a reading and writing teacher at Walter R. Sundling Junior High

· Sharman Galezewski, the District's music facilitator and a music teacher at Jane Addams School

· Tony Leva, a resource teacher at Walter R. Sundling Junior High

“Please join us in congratulating these dedicated professional educators,” said Carole Einhorn, the District's teacher induction facilitator.

-- Story submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15