YAKIMA, Wash. -- More teachers in Washington state are earning National Board Certification than the national average.

According to information released by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Washington state — along with North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois and Florida — have the highest numbers of teachers achieving the certification.

Washington state ranks second for 2009 and fifth for the total number of teachers achieving the certification over time.

National Board Certification is a voluntary system to certify teachers who meet strict standards. Certification is given through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an independent, nonprofit organization aimed at advancing the quality of teaching and learning.

More than 82,000 teachers have been certified through the program. And nearly 8,900 of them are newly certified this year.

These are the numbers for districts in Yakima County for 2009: East Valley, three; Grandview, five; Granger, one; Highland, nine; Mabton, one; Mount Adams, three; Naches Valley, two; Selah, seven; Sunnyside, eight; Toppenish, nine; Wapato, three; West Valley, six; and Yakima, eight.
Since 2007, the number of teachers earning National Board Certification in Washington state has grown 201 percent. That compares to the national growth rate of 55 percent.

In all, nearly 4,000 teachers in Washington state have achieved the certification. Nearly 1,250 of them were certified in 2009.

The spike here likely has something to do with the incentives the state offers teachers who successfully complete the process.

In 2007, the Legislature set the annual bonus for full- or part-time public school teachers with NBPTS certification at $5,000. That amount is slated to increase with inflation.

And teachers receive it as long as they maintain the certification, according to the Web site for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Plus, teachers who work in “challenging schools” receive an additional $5,000 annual bonus. Last year, the Legislature lowered the threshold for that bonus.

National Board Certified Teachers qualify for it if they teach at a high school where 50 percent or more students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, a middle school where 60 percent or more students qualify, or an elementary school where 70 percent or more students qualify.
For more information, visit www.nbpts.org.

-- Adriana Janovich