Springdale Teachers Receive National Certification
By: Kyle Leyenberger, KNWA-TV, Fayetteville
Updated: March 12, 2013
SPRINGDALE, AR - Dozens of Springdale teachers put in extra effort to prove they perform at a national level.
Rachel Smith is one of just two special ed teachers at Springdale's Monitor Elementary, so it's tough to make sure she's doing the right things for her students.
"I can't really go down the hall and say 'What are you doing with your kids?' because it doesn't really connect," she says.
So Smith decided to apply for National Board Certification.
"The point is to really make sure that our teaching jobs and what we do in school really counts everyday, and that we're doing what's best for every kid in our classroom," she says.
The process requires hours and hours of extra work, documenting how teachers run their classroom.
"They wanted to know if we had content knowledge, if we knew our students, if we had over communication with parents," she says.
Proving these things takes time, but dozens of Springdale teachers joined Smith this year.
Twenty eight teachers received the certification, more than any other district in the state.
Smith, a Springdale High School graduate herself, isn't surprised.
"I knew from the moment I started attending Springdale schools that the teachers really cared about their students," she says. "They would work really hard to make sure that everybody succeeded."
This year's successful applicants bring the total number of national board certified teachers in the district up to 111, placing Springdale second in the state.
Click here to watch this report.
Rachel Smith is one of just two special ed teachers at Springdale's Monitor Elementary, so it's tough to make sure she's doing the right things for her students.
"I can't really go down the hall and say 'What are you doing with your kids?' because it doesn't really connect," she says.
So Smith decided to apply for National Board Certification.
"The point is to really make sure that our teaching jobs and what we do in school really counts everyday, and that we're doing what's best for every kid in our classroom," she says.
The process requires hours and hours of extra work, documenting how teachers run their classroom.
"They wanted to know if we had content knowledge, if we knew our students, if we had over communication with parents," she says.
Proving these things takes time, but dozens of Springdale teachers joined Smith this year.
Twenty eight teachers received the certification, more than any other district in the state.
Smith, a Springdale High School graduate herself, isn't surprised.
"I knew from the moment I started attending Springdale schools that the teachers really cared about their students," she says. "They would work really hard to make sure that everybody succeeded."
This year's successful applicants bring the total number of national board certified teachers in the district up to 111, placing Springdale second in the state.
Click here to watch this report.
