LELAND — Ever evolving are the best practices and strategies recommended to teachers for the sake of students’ receiving a quality education, especially in the Mississippi Delta where the teacher shortage is quite pronounced.
Simply put, professionals spanning several industries have recognized it is high “TIME” to do something that will positively impact educational outcomes in school districts like Leland Public Schools and others in the state of Mississippi.
Wednesday evening, the Leland School District hosted in its multipurpose room one of two in-person meetings to raise awareness about the importance and benefits of each classroom in the state having an accomplished national-board certified teacher (NBCT) teaching every student by way of TIME (Technology Integration for Mississippi Educators).
The meeting comes as the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) this past summer welcomed 300 Mississippi teachers to the TIME Cohort — an initiative directly sponsored by Governor Tate Reeves' Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Act.
“Since then, with additional support provided to those educators by APPLE, we have been providing space and opportunities for those educators across the state to receive mentor support,” said Dr. Daphne Brown, senior manager of state partnerships for the National Board for NBPTS.
In order to obtain admission to the TIME cohort, teachers had to possess a bachelor’s degree, a valid Mississippi teaching license and at least three full years of teaching experience.
According to Mississippi Professional Educators, those selected for the TIME cohort received full funding for component fees for National Board Certification and cohort support; an iPad with a case; extensive professional development support and resources from the NBPTS and Apple Professional Learning, as Brown pointed out.
These resources include virtual and onsite coaching support, access to the Apple Teacher Learning Center and the extensive NBPTS library of resources and activities as demonstrated by (Apple Learning Center Trainer).
LSD Superintendent Jesse King is one of several throughout the state who has candidates in the cohort.
"I think it sets the tone of high expectation for our teachers. We believe that as they increase in capacity, we all win, especially our students and we strongly encourage teachers to further their continuing education and excel. We support it 100%,” King said on the TIME initiative.
King noted how he and other district officials “constantly pushed” the initiative because they knew if they could get educators to buy in, it would be advantageous for everyone.
He acknowledged it took some serious, persistent effort to yield that buy-in.
“We were willing to be very flexible and accommodating. We also try to be a morale supporter for those who started to feel a little down about the progress,” said King. “We encouraged, Incentivized and we just provided those multi layered systems of support to encourage them to continue and to complete the program. Many of them have and many of them are in right now.”
He highlighted there are at least 6 to 7 NBCT’s in LSD that have completed the process, one which is a high school and another, an Algebra teacher.
“And of course, the extra funding from the state is always an incentive. When I think about administration and the rewards economically, being national board-certified can get you there and beyond in some cases in terms of economics,” King said further, noting the annual supplemental increase as teachers ascend in certification.
He also pointed out the goals of the district, specifically improvement in accountability scores, that are anticipated to be met with the implementation of TIME.
"The accountability goals where all of our schools are high-performing and performing at a level that can be sustained is what we're looking for and retaining those teachers as a result of supporting those teachers,” he added. “The more we can get national board certified, it is evident they have the skill set and the capacity which is transferred to the students, school climate and culture.”
