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Beginning in fall 2001, members of the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) team began working with La Paz Middle School in Salinas, California, to improve teacher practice and student learning. This project utilized the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to involve all teachers at La Paz in the examination and enhancement of their teaching practices, thereby achieving accomplished teaching across classrooms. The project was designed to build La Paz' capacity to support their own teachers in National Board (NB) certification by engaging NB certified teachers in pre-leadership activities the year of their certification.
Members of the TPD and school staff co-developed professional development that focused on areas of need in the school, such as teaching discipline specific literacies across the curriculum and teaching immigrant children. This ensuing staff development used the tools and processes developed by QTEL in its modules.
Three on-site support groups were created to enhance teacher growth vis-à-vis their candidacy for National Board certification:
- Candidacy Group, for a small cadre of teachers who were preparing for the NB certification.
- Pre-Candidacy Group, for those teachers interested in becoming NB candidates the following year.
- Awareness Group, for those interested in learning more about NB processes.
Funding for this project was provided by the Stuart Foundation under a grant to increase the number of Bay Area teachers who are certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. We are meeting this goal by helping Bay Area education organizations and schools such as La Paz to encourage and assist candidates.
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