The Bellevue School District has landed among the top ten districts nationwide for numbers of new National Board Certified teachers. Numbers released today show Bellevue has 34 new National Board Certified teachers, which lands the district in the top ten nationally and is more than any other district in the state.

Bellevue currently has more than 380 National Board Certified teachers, which amounts to nearly thirty percent of all teachers in Bellevue. National Board Certification is the highest credential available to educators.

“The number of teachers who have chosen to pursue such a high standard is impressive, and directly supports the quality of instruction that all of our educators in the Bellevue district strive to provide to each child in every classroom, every day,” observed Superintendent J. Tim Mills.

Teachers who are Board Certified must complete a rigorous process and meet high standards regarding what educators should know and be able to do. The certification process takes one to three years and as many as 400 hours of work.

Applicants must have at least three full years of teaching or counseling experience. In order to achieve Board Certification, teachers must submit a multi-part portfolio that documents teaching practices and assesses content knowledge. A national panel of trained teachers in the applicant’s subject area reviews the portfolio. Board Certification is from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Bellevue provides an unusually high level of support for teachers who seek board certification by helping them cover the cost of registration and initial assessment fees.  In addition, the Bellevue Schools Foundation provides support to NBCT candidates, investing more than $795,000 in the program since 2003.