When businesses in the Huntsville area decided to do something to help improve schools, they started down a path that few similar organizations across the country have taken.

They chose to invest in teacher development in their tri-school district area, raising enough money to pay for 100 teachers, at $2,000 each, to earn national board certification. That’s a research-based credential that demonstrates a teacher meets the highest standards in improving student learning.

So far the Committee of 100, an advocacy group representing several businesses in Huntsville, has raised $215,000—over their original $200,000 goal set last summer—through the fundraising arm of the organization, the Creative Cities Fund.

"What we're trying to do," said John Allen, Executive Director of the Committee of 100, "is generationally change student achievement by investing in professional development in a teacher that teaches generation after generation of students in a classroom."

Allen said the Committee was looking for a way to invest money beyond the typical "pizzas, pencils, and paper" gift donated to schools.

Today, the #HSVC100 had the privilege to host National Board Certified Teachers from Huntsville, Madison, and Madison... Posted by Huntsville Committee of 100 on Tuesday, July 23, 2019

National board certification is a great investment, Allen said, and national research shows students taught by teachers with national board certification learn more during the course of the school year than students taught by non-board certified teachers.

Michelle Accardi, the policy and partnerships director for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, called the Huntsville group "trailblazers" for taking the lead to provide funding.

"It's groundbreaking in that it came through the business community into the school system rather than the other way around," Accardi said. "It's a model for the country."

Board certification is a stamp of approval similar to what lawyers and doctors achieve and is considered the gold standard for the teaching profession. Getting certified through NBPTS is a rigorous process and an additional certification on top of the one to become a teacher in Alabama.

Research has shown that students taught by nationally board certified teachers learn the equivalent of an additional two months of instruction in math and one month in English language arts.

“Teachers say (the process) is transformative in their ability to help all students,” Elizabeth Fleming told AL.com. Fleming is the director of The Schools Foundation, which supports Huntsville City Schools, Madison City Schools and Madison County schools.

The first grants from the Committee's proceeds have yet to be awarded, but Fleming's organization will administer the grants. Each school district is using their own application process to determine which teachers will receive the support.

The national board certification process can take from one to five years, and teachers spend about 100 hours completing each of the required four modules. At the end of the process, a review team either awards the certification or requests the teacher re-work one or more of the modules for reconsideration.

Alabama added 244 new board certified teachers in December, the fourth-highest number in the country, bringing the total number of Alabama teachers who have earned board certification to nearly 3,000. About half of those are still teaching in Alabama's classrooms, Accardi said, while some moved into administrative positions and others have likely retired or moved out of state.

Those board-certified teachers are not spread evenly across the state, though, and newly certified teachers are highly recruited. Piedmont City Schools, a small system in east Alabama, recently earned the distinction of being one of only three school districts in the country where more than 40% of their teaching force is board certified.

During the 2018-19 school year, of 1,700 teachers in Huntsville, 1,100 in Madison County and 600 in Madison, only 114, or around 3%, have earned National Board Certification.

Beyond the in-classroom benefits a board certified teachers brings to students, they have been shown to be four times more likely to stay put, Accardi said, particularly in high-needs schools. That’s good news given the growing teacher shortage across Alabama and the nation.

Related: More pay, better retirement part of pitch to solve Alabama teacher shortage

While Alabama lawmakers have provided a $5,000 yearly bonus for teachers who are nationally board certified in recent years, that amount isn't guaranteed from year to year. Two years ago, lawmakers sweetened the deal, providing an additional $5,000 bonus for board-certified teachers in some subject areas, like math and science, who teach in high-needs schools.

While the bonus is an incentive, it isn't always the reason teachers choose to start the process.

Sarah Baker teaches middle school art in the city schools in Madison. "I was feeling like I was ready for more personal growth as a teacher," Baker, who has been teaching since 2008, said. "You do a lot of reflection on what you do and how you do it," Baker said. "It is a really good experience."

Baker said the cost to earn certification was a barrier, and she is grateful for the partial grant she received. She has completed two of the four components and plans to complete the final two by the time the school year ends.

Monica Hickman teaches eighth-grade English in Madison County and also received a grant to seek certification. She’s in her 14th year of teaching and is in her second year of seeking national board certification, hoping to complete the final three components by the end of the school year, like Baker.

“I wish I would have done this sooner,” Hickman said. "I think it would have made me more self-aware of just my teaching practice."

Baker and Hickman said that what the Committee of 100 is doing will help their communities.

"With better teachers, you'll have more equipped students," Baker said. "They'll be more prepared for the jobs these businesses will need to fill."

Accardi hopes more businesses will contact her about investing in their communities like the Committee of 100 is doing. “I know groups of teachers right now across Alabama that are ready to start the (board certification) process,” she said. “They just need the financial jump start.”

Related: How to find and read your school’s report card

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