BELLEVUE SCHOOL DISTRICT: 2020 National Board Certification Earned by Bellevue Educators

By Press release submission

Dec 30, 2020

Bellevue School District issued the following announcement.

Congratulations to the 12 Bellevue School District teachers who have earned or renewed their National Board certificate this year! These teachers had the opportunity to defer the pursuit of certification due to COVID, but instead chose to submit their work to the National Board for scoring by June, 2020.

Bellevue School District currently employs over 400 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). According to the National Board, Bellevue ranks 20th out of all public school districts nationwide in terms of the total number of NBCTs who have earned the distinction. In addition, last year, Bellevue School District was recognized by the National Board as one of three districts in which more than 40% of its staff has earned certification since the inception of the National Board process: National Board Accomplished Districts.

By applying for National Board certification, Bellevue educators volunteer to put their teaching skills and content knowledge up against the highest standards in the nation. Teachers work with their colleagues in “off” hours to discuss their teaching, curriculum, and assessment tools and to evaluate video tapes of one another teaching. This work is assembled into components that are submitted to the National Board. In addition, each first-time candidate takes a three-hour exam on the content they teach. Both the test and the components submitted complete their application to the National Board.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our National Board candidates! The district’s financial contribution of $550 per teacher toward candidacy fees helps ease the financial burden placed on staff. To further relieve any financial burden, teachers pursuing National Board certification for the first time will now receive additional financial support through funds provided by the Sherry Ladd Endowment for Teacher Development. You can learn more about this generous gift here. In addition, the Bellevue Schools Foundation (BSF) has granted $32,500 to fund content-area facilitators and a videographer to support teachers district-wide this year. BSF has continuously and generously supported Bellevue teachers in their pursuit of National Board certification since 2003. The collective support of the Bellevue School District and the Bellevue Schools Foundation makes it possible for Bellevue teachers to participate in the highest level of professional development available to educators today.

New Certifications