Spotlight on Success

Nine BPS Teachers Gain National Board Certified Status

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has awarded National Board Certified Teacher status to nine new BPS teachers. That brings the total in Boston to 68!

The NBCT teachers for 2011 were:

• Mr. Gregory Banks - Urban Science Academy, West Roxbury
• Mr. Erik Berg - Philbrick Elementary School, Roslindale
• Ms. Patricia Dervan - Brighton High School, Brighton
• Ms. Caitlin Hollister - Murphy K-8, Dorchester (missing from picture below) 
• Mr. Matthew Kazlauskas - John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science, Roxbury
• Ms. Ellen Latham - Mario Umana Academy, East Boston
• Ms. Kristi Lucks - Boston Community Leadership Academy, Brighton
• Mr. Noah Patel - Roosevelt K-8, Hyde Park

"Nation's Report Card" (NAEP) Shows BPS Students Are Outperforming Their Uban Peers

Boston Public Schools (BPS) students are outperforming their urban peers in mathematics and reading, according to results released today by the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card."

Read more | Read full report

Arne Duncan Announces Teacher Ambassador Fellowships: Two BPS Teachers Selected

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the names of 16 teachers selected to be Teaching Ambassador Fellows for the upcoming 2011-12 school year.

Shakera Walker, a kindergarten teacher in the Young Achievers Science and Math School was chosen to work for the Department's Early Learning Initiatives full-time for this year. Robert Baroz, a 6th/7th grade English teacher at Curley Middle School, has been selected as a Classroom Fellow.

'"I am committed to listening to teachers' voices as we work to develop policies that will support reform and strengthen the teaching profession," said Duncan. "Since I've come to Washington, I've come to rely on the Teaching Ambassador Fellows for their invaluable feedback and their ability to facilitate dialogue with teachers across the country. I look forward to working closely with this year's Teaching Ambassadors, particularly as we work to fix the No Child Left Behind Act..."

Nine BPS Teachers Gain National Board Certified Status

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has awarded National Board Certified Teacher status to eight new BPS teachers and one renewal.

On April 8, 2011 at the monthly Boston School Committee meeting, the nine teachers received commendations from the school district for their exceptional accomplishment in achieving NBCT. Superintendent Carol Johnson outlined the rigor of the process to attain NBCT including a yearlong portfolio and a six- hour written assessment.

The NBCT teachers for 2010 were: 

Angela DiPrizio, Otis Elementary, Grade 4, NBCT Middle Childhood Generalist
Cara Fenner, Excel High School, History Grades 10- 12, History: Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Kelly Garofalo, Brighton High School, ELA, English Language Arts Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Karen McCarthy, Brighton High School ELA, English Language Arts, Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Robert Rametti, Brighton High School, ELA English Language Arts, Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Carla McCormack, Edwards Middle School, Mathematics Mathematics, Early Adolescence
Jeffrey A. Timberlake, Boston Teachers Union School, Grade 3 Generalist, Middle Childhood
Adam Moore, formerly Perkins Elementary School Generalist, Middle Childhood
Whitney Weeder, renewed NBCT ,East Boston Early Education Center Generalist, Early Childhood

We are proud of the increased numbers of teachers attempting National Certification and the high rate of success in the BPS. Compared to the national pass rate of 36%, Boston is passing at about 75%. The number is now approaching 65 and goal is to double that number in the next five years.

We salute their initiative and hard work and look forward to their leadership in Boston’s teaching and learning communities.

AFT Innovation Grant Funds Online Math Lesson Plan

A recent grant from the AFT Innovation Fund went to BPS teachers Kevin Qazilbash and Ted Chambers. Working with other teachers at the Edwards Middle school, including Tracy Young featured here, they pioneered work on creating a prototype online math lesson on circumference and diameter and an introduction to the concept of pi.

The time to use the web to promote high quality teaching of the new common standards in core academic areas is ripe. Why shouldn't teachers across the state — or the country for that matter — be able to go online to find great lessons plans to meet common, standards-based objectives for students? Instead,we have hundreds of teacher trying to come up with their own lesson in isolation. Web 2.0 tools would allow teachers to go online and share, contribute and refine topnotch lessons plans together.

The AFT Innovation Fund, started in 2008,  aims to "support innovations from the bottom up and move away from the top-down corporate model," says AFT president Randi Weingarten. To date it has made 15 grants to local and state AFT affiliates.

MA DOE recently landed a federal Race to the Top grant that includes money to create online tools developed by teachers and tied to Common Core Standards. We look forward to seeing the contributions of other BTU members in the future.

Congratulations to the Edwards and its staff and the initiative and leadership of Ted Chambers and Kevin Qazilbash which makes us all proud.

Read more about the AFT Innovation Grant and the Edwards School project featured on the cover of the February issue of the AFT's American Teacher magazine.

Joseph Lee Elementary School Wins the 2010 'School on the Move' Prize

The 5th Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move Prize was awarded on Nov. 3, 2010 to the Joseph Lee Elementary School in Dorchester. The award, which comes with a check for $100,000, is given to “schools that have made exemplary progress in advancing the academic achievement of all students.” The other finalists were the Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown and the Charles H. Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan. All three schools are traditional Boston public schools.

Past recipients of the prize, which was started in 2006, include the Sarah Greenwood K-8 School in Dorchester (2006), Excel High School in South Boston (2007), Samuel Mason Elementary School in Roxbury (2008) and Boston Community Leadership Academy in Brighton (2009).

Three BTU Teachers Chosen as Education Nation Summit 'Best Teachers'

Erin Dukeshire (Orchard Gardens K-8), Noah Patel (Roosevelt K-8), and Shakera Walker (Young Achievers K-8) were chosen to represent our nation's best teachers at the Education Nation Summit hosted by NBC News on September 27-28. To be eligible, teachers needed to demonstrate an exceptional ability to promote and accelerate student learning.  Three hundred teachers applied from all over the U.S. for the honor; only 40 were chosen.

2010 Educators of the Year Award

Thirteen members of the Boston Teachers Union and 4 BPS administrative/staff members were honored for their work at the 2010 annual Educators of the Year and Service Excellence Awards ceremony at the Shubert Theatre on June 21.

This is the tenth year that the City of Boston — in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools, the Boston School Committee, and the Boston Teachers Union — has organized the Educators of the Year event. This award was originally given only to teachers, but was expanded in 2007 to include paraprofessionals, guidance counselors, school nurses and others whose work supports the students of Boston.

The BTU honorees were

• Melanie Allen from the Rafael Hernandez Two-Way Bilingual School in Roxbury
• Ilsa Bruer from the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in the Fenway
• Patricia Dervan from Brighton High School
• Cherrita Distant-Hansel from Nathan Hale Elementary School in Roxbury
• Marilou Donnelly from the Joseph Lee Elementary School in Dorchester
• Denise Dryden, a paraprofessional from the Henry Dearborn Middle School
• Nancy Lenhart from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury
• Peter McCaffery from Boston Arts Academy in the Fenway
• Teresa Medeiros from Emily Fifield Elementary School in Dorchester
• Christopher Mee from Another Course to College in Roxbury
• Sherdene Morrison of Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan
• Evelyn Prophete of Thomas Kenny Elementary School in Dorchester
• Vickie Robinson of Mather Elementary School in Dorchester

Read more about the work of each of the award recipients prepared by the BPS.

O'Bryant Teacher Sharon Hessney Receives Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching

Sharon Hessney, a math teacher at the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Boston was named as one of 103 recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching In June 2010.

"The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to the best pre-college-level science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level.  Each year the award alternates between mathematics and science teachers teaching Kindergarten through 6th grade, and those teaching 7th through 12th grades. This year it goes to teachers teaching 7th through 12th grades."

Edwards Middle School on the Road to Successful School Transformation with Extended Learning Time (ELT)

There has been a lot of focus lately on the benefits of a longer school day for improving teaching and learning in poorly performing schools. Boston was also one of the first urban districts in Massachusetts to create Extended Learning Time (ELT) schools with the support of the Boston Teachers Union.

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative is a competitive grant program of Mass2020 that: "allows participating schools to redesign and expand their school day for all students to advance academic outcomes, broaden enrichment opportunities, and improve instruction. Those schools determined to have the highest quality proposals are awarded $1,300 per pupil per year to support the implementation of their rebuilt school day and year. Today, over 12,000 students in 22 schools in 11 districts across the state attend ELT schools."

One of these schools was Boston's Edwards Middle School in Charlestown. The BTU participated in the grant preparation for this program. Other Boston schools that are part of this initiative are the Timilty and the Umana Middle Schools.

The result? Mass 2020 reports: "Just a few years ago, Boston's Clarence Edwards Middle School was on the verge of being shut down. But by 2009, a renaissance at the Edwards made it one of the highest performing and most desired middle schools in Boston, dramatically narrowing and even eliminating academic achievement gaps while delivering a far more well-rounded education to its high-poverty student population."

On January 13, 2010, Governor Deval Patrick, along with Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Superintendent Carol Johnson visited the Edwards Middle School to acknowledge the school's transformation....a transformation accomplished in collaboration with the union and without the massive dislocation of the Turnaround School model which has just been unleashed on the school system.

You can read the Mass2020 case study here.

Read the Mass202, AFT Massachusetts, and MTA report: Listening to Experts: What Massachusetts Teachers are Saying about Time and Learning and the Expanded Learning Time Initiative.