National Board Certified Teachers and education leaders will meet for first-of-its-kind policy summit August 7-8 in Sheboygan
For the first time ever, dozens of the state's top teachers will join Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster and other educational leaders for a two-day summit to discuss ways to increase the recruitment and retention of quality teachers in the state's high-needs urban and rural schools.
The "Policy Summit on Supporting and Staffing High-Needs Schools: A Conversation Among Wisconsin's National Board Certified Teachers" will be held August 7-8 at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan.
"Having National Board Certified Teachers step forward to participate in this discussion is critically important as we build quality learning environments for students," said WEAC President Stan Johnson. "Classroom educators are on the frontlines in the effort to address the achievement gap, and it is essential that they are part of the process of coming together to address one of the most pressing challenges confronting our schools today."
Participants will spend the day formulating solutions to one of today's most pressing educational issues - how to attract and retain high-quality teachers in schools that are struggling with high teacher turnover and poor student achievement.
The results will be delivered to a panel of policymakers at the summit and will form the basis for future action. The summit recommendations will be used to address how teachers are recruited, prepared and retained in Wisconsin's hard-to-staff public schools.
The National Board Certification, the highest credential in the teaching profession, is co-sponsoring the summit. Developed and administered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), certification is a rigorous professional development process through which teachers demonstrate how all aspects of their work improve student learning and their school communities. The process takes between one and three years to complete, and there are currently nearly 350 NBCTs in Wisconsin.