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InSTEP™ Grads Earn Board Certification
CET Mon Sep 27 2004 

Four graduates of the InSTEP™ program were among 64 West Virginia teachers honored recently at a ceremony in Charleston for achieving the teaching profession’s highest credential—national board certification.

Members of the West Virginia Board of Education, state superintendent of schools David Stewart, and several other guests honored the teachers for obtaining this prestigious credential.

“National board certification is such a stellar accomplishment,” Stewart said. “We know improving teacher quality improves student learning, and by achieving national board certification, these teachers have met the highest teaching standards in the nation.”

InSTEP™, which is housed at the NASA-supported Classroom of the Future, is a professional development program aimed at science, technology, engineering, and math teachers. Beginning its fourth year, the program has reached more than 8,000 West Virginia teachers since 2001. Participants in the program are invited to achieve national board certification as part of their work in InSTEP, which stands for Integrating Strategies and Technology in Education Practice.

The four InSTEP graduates recognized were Helen Curry of Mingo County, Pat Hanson of Greenbrier County, Kathryn Lazenby of Raleigh County, and Nancy Talley of Mercer County. InSTEP project manager Kathy Norris coordinates InSTEP’s participation in the national board program along with Deborah Clark, who is the InSTEP coordinator for West Virginia Regional Education Service Agency I.

With the 64 new certificates West Virginia now has 152 national board certified teachers. The 64 certifications nearly double 2002’s total of 33. Nationwide, there are 32,131 board certified teachers.

Founded 16 years ago, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan, and nongovernmental organization dedicated to advancing the quality of teaching and learning. Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that takes between one and three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

The West Virginia Department of Education contributed to this story.

November 10, 2004

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