Fifty-seven Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teachers are among the 159 Maryland teachers who have achieved certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) this year. This brings the total of nationally certified teachers in MCPS to 229.

National board certification was created so teachers, like professionals in other fields, can achieve distinction by demonstrating through a demanding performance assessment that they meet high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

Teachers achieve national board certification after completing a yearlong series of assessments that include teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes, and analyses of their classroom teaching and student learning. Candidates also complete a series of written exercises that probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students.

Nationally certified MCPS teachers receive an additional $2,000 in salary each year for a period of 10 years. The state matches the local salary incentive with a stipend of up to $2,000 per year.

A total of 659 teachers in Maryland and 47,503 teachers nationwide have attained NBPTS certification since the program's inception 18 years ago.

The 57 MCPS teachers and their schools or offices are:

· Mary Allred, Jones Lane ES
· Heather Anderson, Broad Acres ES
· Mary Argauer, Flower Hill ES
· Emily Asofsky, Northwest HS
· Nicole Ayeni, Gaithersburg ES
· Amy Bambrick, Broad Acres ES
· Natalie Barna, Carderock Springs ES
· Chris Beers-Arthur, Gaithersburg HS
· Heather Borsum, Cold Spring ES
· Mary Ellen Broderick, Tilden MS
· Alice Byrne, Gaithersburg ES
· Loraine Carlson, DuFief ES
· Antonio Carrillo, John T. Baker MS
· Mandy Carver, John T. Baker MS
· Alexia Couch, Newport MS
· Mary Catherine Cross, Sherwood HS
· Mary Cush, John F. Kennedy HS
· Ella Davani, DuFief ES
· Scott DeGasperis, Takoma Park MS
· Glenn Del Favero, Richard
Montgomery HS
· Frederick Delello, Walter Johnson HS
· Elena Dennis, John T. Baker MS
· Christopher Forney, John T. Baker MS
· Ellen Gagnon, Robert Frost MS
· Lesli Gillman, Walt Whitman HS
· Somer Givens, Waters Landing ES
· Julie Grant, Broad Acres ES
· Jeffrey Hanson, Damascus HS
· Lenore Hoover, Thomas S. Wootton
HS
· Yu-Ying Huang, Thomas S. Wootton HS
· Erin Janney, James Hubert Blake HS
· Jennifer Jarosinski, Forest Oak MS
· Lallitha John, Winston Churchill HS
· Karen Jones, Quince Orchard HS
· Philip Scott Kinhart, Takoma Park MS
· Stacie Kinhart, Burnt Mills ES
· Meghna Lipcon, Broad Acres ES
· Mary Mac Nemar, Northwest HS
· David McCutcheon, Cabin John MS
· Kathleen McInnis, Sequoyah ES
· Ericson Perez, Watkins Mill HS
· Peter Petrossian, Thomas W. Pyle MS
· Carolyn Plosky, Northwest HS
· Sabita Raman, Rachel Carson ES
· Clara Register, Rock Creek Forest ES
· Rose Ann Schwartz, Kensington
Parkwood ES
· Rachel Sears, Bethesda-Chevy Chase
HS
· Michelle Smetanick, John T. Baker MS
· Jill Steinberg, Damascus HS
· Jennifer Strachan, Division of Early
Childhood Programs and Services
· Aaron Tark, Division of Academic
Support, Federal/State Programs
· Madeleine Thompson, DuFief ES
· Rita Trentadue, Gaithersburg ES
· Lisa Vardi, Sherwood HS
· Nancy Warshal, Carderock Springs ES
· David West, Montgomery Blair HS
· Michelle Young, Sherwood HS

Pursuing certification is voluntary and open to all teachers who have a baccalaureate degree and three years' classroom experience in either a public or private school.