National Board Certification = Quality Teachers

Teacher quality is closely tied to student academic achievement, making Washington state's efforts to improve quality by getting more teachers to earn a National Board Certification worth lauding.

This is the gold standard in K-12 education. National certification focuses on the classroom and the techniques for improving learning. If a master's degree in education prepares teachers for the profession of teaching, a National Board Certification narrows teachers' lenses to students and how to improve and vary instruction for different learning styles.

This year, 919 teachers statewide earned the advanced certification, nearly double the number certified last year. This places Washington in the top 10 of states that have the highest numbers of nationally, board-certified teachers. Nationwide, 73,000 teachers are nationally certified.

The process is so rigorous that few succeed the first time around. Consider it a high-stakes training for teachers. It is a year, often three, spent by teachers cataloging their experiences, creating work portfolios and videotapes and taking tests.

Teachers' hard work pays off with more than certification. The state Legislature in 2007 approved $5,000 bonuses to each certified teacher. Teachers get an additional $5,000 bonus for teaching in schools that are considered more challenging because they have a higher percentage of low-income students.

The challenge is continuing the momentum. It would be nice if the numbers of teachers earning certification doubled again next year. It will be a challenge in this budget climate but efforts in the Seattle and Bellevue school districts serve as encouraging examples.

In Bellevue, 18 percent of its 1,180 teachers are board certified, compared with 5.3 percent of teachers statewide. The Bellevue Schools Foundation removes the biggest hurdle for teachers by paying the fees and related support services for its teachers.

Seattle offers assistance for its teachers as well.

Here is a program improving the quality of hundreds of teachers. It ought to be valued.