Seven Darlington County Teachers Earn National Board Certification
For Immediate Release: December 17, 2009
SEVEN DARLINGTON COUNTY TEACHERS EARN NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION
(DARLINGTON) –Seven Darlington County School District teachers earned National Board Certification this year, bringing the district total to approximately 75 teachers. The seven teachers are among 799 South Carolina teachers to earn the certification this year, according to information released this week by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards ®.
The seven new National Board Certified Teachers are:
• Patricia Boatwright, St. John’s Elementary School
• Melinda Brown, Brockington Elementary Magnet School
• Sandra Deming, Darlington High School
• Jamie Edmonds, Mayo High School for Math, Science & Technology
• Kristen Hopkins, Rosenwald Elementary/Middle School
• Jennifer Tiller, St. John’s Elementary School
• Michelle Ward, Darlington High School
“It is the quality of a teacher that impacts a student’s educational experience the most. Through their efforts, these exceptional teachers are raising the bar for education in Darlington County,” said Dr. Rainey H. Knight, Darlington County School District Superintendent of Education. “These teachers deserve both our congratulations and our thanks for their accomplishment.”
With this year’s 799 newly certified teachers, South Carolina now has 7,297 National Board Certified teachers and maintains its third-place national ranking. North Carolina and Florida still rank first and second, respectively. This year marks one of the highest totals of South Carolina new achievers since the state began participating in the program. In 2002, the Palmetto State had 1,073 teachers attain certification. National Board Certified teachers now represent approximately 14.5 percent of the state’s teaching force of nearly 50,000.
The National Board process defines the knowledge, skills and accomplishments that symbolize teaching excellence. It was created so that teachers – just as professionals in other fields – could achieve distinction by demonstrating through a demanding performance assessment that they can meet high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.
Certification candidates undertake a two-part process that lasts one to three years. It requires them to reflect on their classroom practices, their understanding of subject material and their preparation techniques. In addition to preparing a portfolio with videotapes of classroom teaching, lesson plans, student work samples and reflective essays, teachers must complete assessment center exercises based on content knowledge that proves not only that they have mastered the subjects they teach, but also that they know how to teach them.
South Carolina’s efforts to improve teacher quality have led the nation over the past few years. The national report card “Quality Counts,” published by the respected magazine Education Week, ranked South Carolina No. 1 in the nation for efforts to attract, develop and keep the best teachers possible.
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