Testimonies and Hearings

U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, 5/4/2010

Pam Salazar, associate professor of practice in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and coordinator of the Collaborative Principal Preparation Program, speaks about the importance of principal leadership and National Board Certification for Principals.

Pennsylvania: Senate Education Committee, 3/16/2010

Walter Jordan-Davis, regional outreach director for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 1252, PN 1709, Senator Dinniman's companion bill to Representative Roebuck's legislation in the House.

North Carolina: Legislative Education Oversight Committee, 2/16/2010

Joan Celestino, NBCT at Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools, speaks about the value of the certification process to both teachers and students, explaining how the state cannot afford to stop funding the program.

North Carolina: House Education Appropriations, 5/21/2009

Karen Garr, regional outreach director for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, stresses the importance of the National Board program in North Carolina, noting the 91% retention rate of NBCTs in the classroom and the impact on student achievement.

Florida: K-20 Appropriations Committee, 3/13/2009

Peggy Brookins, director and mathematics instructor, Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology, Forest High School in Ocala, makes a case to the Florida House of Representatives K-20 Appropriations Committee on the reasons why the legislature should continue to fully fund National Board Certification programs.

U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, 4/18/2008

• William Poock, NBCT, K-5 learning strategist, the College Community School District in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Ph.D. candidate in curriculum and supervision, the University of Iowa, discusses National Board Certification and professional learning communities as two strategies to improve teaching and learning in today’s schools.
• Helen Elizabeth Martin, NBCT, founding member of the Board of Directors, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and a candidate support provider for Temple University, recalls her experience as a founding member of the National Board and the first founding member to receive her National Board Certification.

Pennsylvania: House Education Committee, 2/13/2008

• C. Kent McGuire, dean of education, Temple University and former assistant secretary of education under the Clinton Administration, urges the Pennsylvania House Education Committee to enact House Bill 1045, a bill to institutionalize National Board Certification, the core component of the Pennsylvania Teaching Quality Initiative.
• Theresa Barnaby, director of the Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality for the Pennsylvania Board of Education, presents research on National Board Certification.
• Beth Cerulo, NBCT, adjunct professor at the Center for Teaching Excellence, Gannon University, elaborates on the profound effect National Board Certification has on the quality of instruction in her classroom, as well as her development as a teacher leader.
• Craig Downey, NBCT, teacher mentor at the Center of Excellence, East Stroudsburg University, emphasizes the rigor of the National Board Certification process and its impact on the way he teaches and thinks about his students.
• Pat Halpin-Murphy, director of government relations for AFT/PA, emphasizes that “National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an educational reform that works!”