Four teachers in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 have won national certification.
The four — Elizabeth Griffin and Kendra Williams of Bessie Rhodes Magnet School, Anne McKenna of Dewey Elementary and Barbara Ulrich of Chute Middle School — join 14 other District 65 educators as National Board Certified Teachers.
In addition, Maeve Gernstetter of Lincoln Elementary has successfully renewed her ten-year National Board certification.
Superintendent Hardy Murphy said, “Self-awareness, self-reflection and mentoring are among the most effective ways to improve the teaching practice. The National Board Certification process supports these important aspects of professional development.”
“Through this process,” Murphy said, “teachers gain confidence to become leaders in their classrooms, their schools, and in the district. Our students and our community are the beneficiaries of this investment that our teachers are making in their professional development.”
The certification program, esstablished by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in 1987 requires the teacher to demonstrate mastery of standards through portfolio, writing assessment, video of their classroom teaching, and the submission of student work.
The process takes between 200 and 400 hours to complete and only about half of all candidates are certified on their first attempt.