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2006 National Teacher of the Year Points to National Board Certification as Key Factor in Her School’s Turn Around

October 30, 2009

At the start of the decade, Montgomery County’s Broad Acres Elementary School was the worst performing school in the district and one of the worst in the state of Maryland.

“On the brink of academic despair” was how Kimberly Oliver Burnim, the 2006 National Teacher of the Year, described her school’s situation during a forum on school reform, sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, recently held in Washington, D.C.

The first grade teacher told the group of educators and members of the education research community that among third graders, 13 percent at that time were proficient in math while just five percent were proficient on statewide testing.

A National Board Certified Teacher since 2004, Burnim said as part of a school reform initiative, the district recruited 10 teachers at Broad Acres to pursue National Board Certification. Over a three-year period, all 10 achieved.

Today, Broad Acres is in the top 20 percent statewide in the category of student performance. Burnim said National Board Certification had a key role in this improvement, crediting the “influence National Board Certification had on the teachers who went through the process.” 

“The school culture was affected tremendously,” Burnim added. “The level of conversations became more data driven and focused on student learning. We created a level of excellence at the school through teaching that still stands today. Now, we are one of the schools that good teachers want to come to and want to work with the staff.”

Montgomery County Public Schools ranks among the nation’s top 20 school districts in terms of the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification with nearly 500. A longtime supporter of National Board Certification, the district awards its NBCTs an annual stipend of $2,000, half of which is matched by the state.   

“Every teacher may not be National Board certified but every teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools knows (the NBPTS) Five Core Propositions because that’s what they’re evaluated on and it’s ingrained in the system,” Burnim said.

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To view the video of the National Board’s school reform forum, click here.