America is home to more than 64,000 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). However, they remain a largely untapped resource despite their critical mass. Motivated by our understanding of how important mathematics and science education is for today’s 21st century learners, CTQ recently launched the multi-faceted NBCT Return on Investment Initiative to help spread the expertise of these highly accomplished teachers.
 
Almost 2,000 mathematics and science NBCTs currently work in North Carolina classrooms. In a recent survey they indicated a strong interest in sharing their knowledge of content and teaching strategies. Nearly 1,000 said they would be willing to directly assist out-of-field teachers to strengthen their mathematics and science instruction or become involved in improving teacher recruitment, preparation and professional development programs.

With support from the N.C. General Assembly and forward-thinking foundations like GlaxoSmithKline and Z. Smith Reynolds, the Center for Teaching Quality is providing unique opportunities for 140 of these accomplished mathematics and science teachers to fulfill their commitment to advancing their profession and giving North Carolina some “return on investment” for the state’s strong support of National Board Certification.

NBCTs who participate in the Return on Investment Initiative collaborate in a highly active online community to hone their leadership skills and provide peer-to-peer professional development that will improve mathematics and science instruction in districts throughout the state. The Initiative’s impact will continue to increase through LC-MAST (Leadership Center for Math and Science Teachers), a partnership between the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and CTQ, to support science and mathematics teachers as they earn NBCT status.

The Initiative’s First Phase

Beginning in Fall 2008, 12 NBCTs with mathematics and science certification are serving as Virtual Coaches for over 150 novice teachers in four North Carolina districts. Working in tandem with these virtual mentors are District Coaches – teacher leaders from within the targeted school districts who serve as our team “on the ground,” offering additional face-to-face support to participating novices.

To select strategies that best align with their current priorities and programs, the school districts can choose any combination of these support options:

• Mentor teacher education students and beginning teachers (in years one through three) via online coaching;
• Create a cohort of teachers (at any experience level) in high-needs schools to pursue the NBPTS Take One!® process (where teachers analyze video tapes of their own instruction);
• Organize a cohort of interested teachers (with at least three years of experience) in high-needs schools to pursue National Board Certification®; and/or
• Provide online mentoring to out-of-field mathematics and science teachers and assist them to become qualified and more effective.

With the launch of our custom virtual learning platform, CTQ has accelerated the visibility and impact of all its teacher leadership efforts. Combining the collaborative capacities of group networking software with the resources of the nation’s best professional learning communities, CTQ’s Web-based learning environment engages teachers from across North Carolina and the nation to share their expertise in supporting novice and struggling teachers. Through facilitated synchronous and asynchronous discussions, our Virtual Coaches are becoming skilled at developing content-rich online modules while they sharpen their abilities to grow local mentor teachers using this same online learning system.

Using these tools and strategies as the building blocks — and CTQ’s unique expertise in nurturing virtual communities as the cement — we envision the CTQ online learning environment becoming the professional home for thousands of educators and a venue for building partnerships across the nation in support of teacher leaders and teacher-to-teacher professional development. With support from Washington Mutual and Motorola, CTQ will begin pioneering such partnerships in California, Illinois and Washington during the 2008-09 school year.