Certified Teacher Gives Back To Her Profession
Ask Cathy Anderson what it was like to seek and earn national certification
as a teacher, and you won't get a sugarcoated answer.
| |
| "As teachers, we close our doors. To open
up those doors and let the world see is very frightening, but also
very challenging."
——————
Cathy Anderson |
"It was very difficult," said the veteran Eau Claire teacher.
But ask her if it was worth it, and you'll hear words like pride, accomplishment,
challenge, gratification and reward.
"One woman (who earned certification) told me she didn't realize
it would give her this much personal satisfaction," Anderson said.
Anderson is so convinced that earning national certification is a valuable
and enriching experience that she is devoting countless hours to helping
other Wisconsin teachers prepare for and complete the certification process
through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).
She also is heading the national committee that is rewriting certification
standards for middle school science teachers, a "daunting task"
that involves long meetings, many e-mail exchanges and submission of proposed
changes to classroom teachers for review and input, and the National Board
for final approval.
"I work in the classroom, and I love that, but I also need to give
back to the students and teachers in the discipline I am in," she
said.
Anderson was one of the first Wisconsin teachers to earn National Board
certification in 1999. With few mentors and nobody else from Wisconsin
seeking the same certificate she was pursuing – early adolescent
science – she felt isolated. Of the 24 candidates from Wisconsin
that year, only eight succeeded.
Anderson credits support from the administration in her school –
DeLong Middle School – and help from WEAC, including a support network
that included two seminars in Madison and assistance from Wisconsin's
first certified teacher, Andy Kuemmel of Edgerton. WEAC's Ron Jetty and
Katie Schultz-Stout were also very helpful, she said.
Since she found that type of assistance and support so valuable, she
decided that after she earned her certification she would help others
with the process.
Teachers seeking national certification can learn a great deal from others
who have been through the process, Anderson said.
First of all, she said, they need support to overcome any self-doubt,
including simple words of encouragement. "When someone else says,
'Yes, you can do it,' that is very helpful," she said.
Secondly, a teacher who has been through the process can help candidates
understand how to best approach the rigorous task and narrow their focus
to information and activities that relate most directly to achieving certification.
Without that guidance, candidates can become overwhelmed.
"It's like looking through a lens," Anderson
said. "You must use the right lens and focus on the right things.
Usually when people don't succeed it's not because they aren't outstanding
teachers, it's because they didn't provide the right evidence. Their lens
is focused somewhere else."
The focus is on the National Board's five core propositions,
which overlap with the state's 10 teaching standards. Overall, the key
element is on how a teacher affects student learning, she said.
Anderson shares her insights with candidates regularly
as part of a cadre of WEAC members who give presentations at conferences
or by request. She also shares ideas with National Board candidates by
e-mail.
"Cathy Anderson's commitment to the profession
cannot be overstated," said Jetty, a WEAC teaching and learning consultant.
"From her work mentoring NBPTS candidates at the WEAC Convention
and locally in the Eau Claire region to her work chairing the NBPTS standards
committee she provides the expertise of a caring and truly dedicated teacher."
Why does she do it?
"It's refreshing to me. You don't ever do anything
without getting something out of it," she said.
It's also rewarding, Anderson said, to reflect on your
own practice.
"As teachers, we close our doors," she said.
"To open up those doors and let the world see is very frightening,
but also very challenging."
Anderson encourages all teachers to consider seeking
national certification but recognizes that it is not for everyone. You
need to be willing to devote a great deal of time, and you must be willing
"to open up your practice for all to see."
In addition to the personal and professional rewards,
there also are other incentives to seeking certification, she said.
- A certified teacher automatically becomes a master teacher under the
state's new teacher licensing structure.
- Completing the certification process is worth 6 credit hours toward
license renewal, whether the candidate succeeds in earning certification
or not.
- The Department of Public Instruction administers federal funds that
are available to offset the cost of pursuing certification.
- In the first year after being certified, a teacher can get reimbursement
of up to $2,000 from the state for out-of-pocket costs related to earning
certification. (That reimbursement and the federal funds administered
by DPI together cannot exceed $2,300.)
- A certified teacher, under current law, receives a $2,500 annual stipend
from the state for the last nine years of the 10-year certificate.
Even if there were no financial incentives, Anderson believes the process
is a rewarding one.
"You become a very reflective practitioner," she said. "It
opens your eyes to many new possibilities."
OnWEAC Resource page on National
Board certification
DPI Resource
page on National Board certification
NBPTS Web site
Posted January 17, 2003