National Board Certification
Bellevue Schools Foundation supports teachers to pursue their National Board Certification, a benchmark for teaching excellence. Since 2003, the Foundation has provided over $750,000 to support National Board certification in the Bellevue School District. This funding helped teachers cover the cost of certification and provided National Board-certified facilitators to mentor applicants through the process. As a result, over 300 teachers in our public schools are National Board-certified. Last year, half of the new National Board-certified teachers were in Bellevue’s schools with high poverty.
"National Board Certification causes teachers to be very intentional about what they do. NBCTs frame each lesson around the specific group of students they teach. Before beginning a lesson, NBCTs determine what their students can already do, what they need to learn, what instructional strategies will be used to reach all learners, what students will do to show they have met the objective, and what will be taught next to students who mastered the objective. NBCTs make plans to work individually with students who don't meet the objective during the initial lesson and re-teach using a wide range of instructional strategies and accommodations to make sure all students succeed. By being intentional about what they teach, NBCTs are able to help diverse groups of students meet objectives and achieve academic success.” – Melissa Slater, NBCT
Multiple studies have shown that the National Board Certification process makes a measurable impact on student learning, engagement and achievement, especially for struggling students. Data from Bellevue, as well as national sources, helped influence the Washington State legislature to provide bonus pay for National Board-certified teachers. Additional legislation, passed by the state in 2009, now provides no-interest loans to help cover certification fees. We are proud to be a part of this transformational program in Washington State that will continue to yield great benefit to children and youth across the state.
BSF continues to provide support to Bellevue teachers seeking National Board certification by providing funding for a district-wide National Board-certified coordinator.
Read the Washington State NBCT profile prepared by National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Bellevue Schools Foundation celebrates achievement of Bellevue's new National Board Certified Teachers! On December 7, 2011, National Board Certification, the "gold standard" for teaching excellence, was celebrated at a White House event introducing the nation's newest 6,200 board-certified teachers. We honor the 40 Bellevue teachers who worked hard this past year to achieve this distinction. Congratulations!
Click here for list of new 2011 National Board Certified teachers by school
Start-up Grants
Small grants are provided to new teachers in the Bellevue School District to help them set up their classrooms and provide an engaging learning environment for their students.
Enrichment & Innovation Grants
Click here for more information on grants that support classrooms across the district.
August 30, 2010. Ardmore Kindergartners are excited to start their first day of school with their new teacher!