Special Education teachers Christine Nofri and Katie DiPierro
achieve National Board Certification
(December 2006)

Christine Nofri and Katie DiPierro, both teachers in Capital Region BOCES Special Education division, have earned the teaching profession’s top credential by achieving National Board Certification in 2006, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).   

Nofri and DiPierro (pictured left to right) work in BOCES special education classrooms located in the Guilderland Central School District. Nofri works at Westmere Elementary School with students in the Diagnostic Developmental Program and DiPierro works at Lynnwood Elementary School with students in the Comprehensive Developmental Skills Program. They are among 7,700 teachers nationwide who successfully completed the rigorous National Board Certification this year. 

“The single most important school related factor in raising student achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. National Board Certification strengthens and reaffirms quality teaching strategies, adds credibility to the teaching profession, represents the profession’s highest standards, and has a positive impact on student learning,” said former Georgia Gov. Roy E. Barnes, chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors. “Today, there are 55,000 teachers who have achieved National Board Certification. These teachers are living proof that this process works to generate some of the most highly accomplished teachers in the field.”

A voluntary process established by the NBPTS, National Board Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes more than a year to complete and measures what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Teachers who earn this advanced teaching credential are among the best qualified in the nation to improve instruction, raise student achievement, and improve teaching practices in their classrooms, schools and districts.    

“National Board Certified Teachers^® (NBCT^®s) are instructional leaders in their schools and communities,” said Rebecca A. Palacios, vice chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors and an NBCT in Corpus Christi, Texas. “It’s important to realize that they help their fellow teachers understand and promote high-quality teaching and learning which is making a positive difference in increasing student achievement.”

NBPTS continues to be the most thoroughly grounded, in research terms, of any assessment program in the teaching profession and has subjected itself to a higher standard of research and validation than any other professional board in the United States.

“The vast majority of research (more than 75 percent) indicates that National Board Certified Teachers make a significantly measurable impact on teacher performance as well as student learning, engagement and achievement,” said NBPTS President and CEO, Joseph A. Aguerrebere. “Our research portfolio has helped us better understand just how the National Board’s focus on learning has led to explicit outcomes­ and real achievement gains for students from all backgrounds.”

“NBPTS truly appreciates the increasing number of states, school districts, and municipalities that support National Board Certification and the impact it has on the teaching profession and improved student learning,” Barnes said. “We also thank the many foundations and corporations that support National Board Certification at the local, state and national levels who share our vision that every child deserves an accomplished teacher.”

“National Board Certification is one of the best hopes we have for improving teaching and learning over the long haul,” Aguerrebere said. “With renewed commitment and support, National Board Certification will enable teachers, the strongest assets we have, to promote student learning and school improvement.”
 

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and nongovernmental organization governed by a board of directors, the majority of whom are classroom teachers. Its mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. For more information about NBPTS, please visit http://www.nbpts.org.

Pictured left: Christine Nofri, left, and Katie DiPierro, center, are recognized for their accomplishment by the BOCES Board of Education on Dec. 18.