For Release: IMMEDIATE
Date: December 15, 2005

DHHS teachers receive National Board Certification

RALEIGH: The Office of Education Services (OES) has announced that five DHHS teachers were certified during the 2005 certification cycle as National Board Certified Teachers by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

“We have an outstanding group of teachers working in our programs,” said Cyndie Bennett, superintendent of the OES. “This certification validates their commitment to providing a quality education for our students.”

The teachers certified this year teach in programs across the state: Kathy Buckner, Laura Lassiter, and Paula Roten from Governor Morehead Preschool in Raleigh; Jesudasan Mangalan from Murdoch Center in Butner, and William Leavy from Caswell Center in Kinston.

Teachers in all DHHS educational programs are eligible to participate if they hold a continuing North Carolina teaching license, have been employed by the state for at least three years and are in a state-paid position.

Currently, there are 9,818 National Board Certified Teachers in North Carolina, more than any other state. The newly certified teachers bring the DHHS total to 27. Nationally, there are over 47,501 Board Certified Teachers.

Founded 17 years ago, NBPTS is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan, and non-governmental organization dedicated to advancing the quality of teaching and learning. National Board Certification is the high credential in the teaching profession. A voluntary process established by NBPTS, certification is achieved through a rigorous performance-based assessment that takes between one and three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

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