On an early December Saturday morning, bleary-eyed, after waiting for 8 months, I woke up to check my scores. When I was able to finally log in to my slow and outdated Chromebook, fireworks announced the good news:
My national teaching certification was renewed for another 5 years. I was excited but also sad. Here's the story.
Managed by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, this certification is considered the gold standard in the educational world. Teachers go through a rigorous assessment process that involves filming themselves teaching, writing complicated, reflective essays about their practice, and gathering evidence of their growth and leadership in their respective educational communities. It's hard work and EXPENSIVE. My renewal certification cost $565, but initial certification is more expensive - my initial certification cost $1500. (The current price tag is $1900.) I would like to thank
APEL, a professional organization for teachers in Louisiana, that granted me a scholarship to offset this expense. In addition to expense, it's also a lengthy process. Teachers submit their "portfolios" online to NBPTS in April or May, and they don't receive results until November (for first-timers) or December (for renewals, like me).
You might be wondering why teachers do it. While I would like to say that it's prestige and respect, and that is PART of it, there's a more important reason. (Make no mistake - I am very proud to be a "National Board Certified Teacher" or NBCT. That little tag behind my name on social media or email means I've worked hard to prove that I understand how to be a good teacher.) But for many teachers, it's also about extra pay. Many school districts offer large salary stipends for National Board certification holders, mine included. In Louisiana where teachers are some of the lowest-paid professionals in the country, that extra money every year is a life-saver. And I'm sure it's no different in many other states.
I had forgotten about the date when I woke up on Saturday morning, despite my calendar reminder. It was a post I saw in a social media group that drew my attention and reminded me to check my scores. And despite today's good news, I could not help but think about my original certification process and the disappointment it caused me.
In 2003, I began working on my initial National Board certification in which I showcased my Latin classes as part of the World Languages - Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood certification category. I worked diligently throughout the year to complete all four components and get them turned in on time. Back in the day, every candidate received "the box" in the mail that contained all the necessary documents and materials for the certification process. Teachers would then use that same box to submit their materials which included (believe it or not) VHS tape recordings. I remember the feeling of accomplishment in April to finally be done and mail that box back. Then, the waiting began.
And then, it abruptly stopped when I received a letter in the mail from the NBPTS about how I was one of 27 teachers whose portfolios would not be graded due to a low enrollment number in that subject area. If memory serves, I believe I got the letter in the summer. The letter stated that because of the low number of candidates, the NBPTS could not accurately score our portfolios. They told us that we could withdraw and get a refund of our money OR we could recruit other Latin teachers to sign up and go through the process in the following year. If the NB had enough candidates to accurately score our portfolios, all candidates would receive their scores in the fall of 2004. I was upset, as you can imagine. The biggest worry I had was that I might never get my scores. I had worked SO hard. I was angry.
Eventually, our small cohort of Latin teachers solved the problem by promoting the certification to others like us. We wanted our scores! In addition, we were allowed to renew our certifications even though there was no longer a Latin certification category because the renewal process is more broadly assessed. I was so lucky to have that opportunity.
Shortly after we finally received our first scores in November of 2004 (after almost two years of waiting), NBPTS told us that they would no longer offer the certification for Latin teachers. Through the years, as word of national board certification grew, many Latin teachers asked why they could not get certified. The American Classical League (the premier professional organization for K-12 classics teachers in the US) has advocated to the NBPTS many times over the years about this issue to no avail. Latin teachers number in the 2000s in the US. Why does NBPTS offer no certification for us? And we aren't alone. There are other language teachers for whom the NBPTS offers no opportunity for certification. In 2015, teachers of Japanese (a slightly more commonly taught language than Latin in the US)
petitioned the NBPTS with the same complaint I'm making here.
So, until my fellow language teachers around the US can have the same opportunities as I do, every November, I'm going to have the same twinge of sadness when I see the announcements congratulating new NBCTs or renewing teachers. It's simply not fair that not all teachers have this opportunity, and I hope the NBPTS can be more inclusive of these teachers someday soon.
NOTA BENE: If you are a Latin teacher seeking information on how to advocate for change, you can submit a question on the NBPTS's website
here, and here is the page listing all of NBPTS's
board members - I suggest you mention my blog post as I have reached out already to two of them whom I know personally. But you should reach out to them too and make your case. (Although their email addresses are not listed on the Website, you can Google them and easily find this information.) Many of them are current classroom teachers who can hopefully understand our plight.
