Taking It to the Next Level: Teacher Debbie Ashley Receives National Board Certification

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Tech Center teacher Debbie Ashley recently joined an elite group of educators, earning certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in November.

Ashley, who teaches New Visions Education and New Visions AP Environmental Science courses at The Tech Center at Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, earned her National Board Certification in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Science with a subspecialty in Biology.

In order to obtain National Board Certification, an advanced teaching credential that complements a teacher’s state license, Ashley had to go through a rigorous process, which included completing 10 assessments that were reviewed by trained teachers in her specific area of certification. The assessments consisted of four portfolio entries that feature teaching practice and six constructed response exercises that assess content knowledge.

Before she began her teaching career, Ashley, who also teaches at Lehman College in the Bronx, taught middle school science and worked as a psychotherapist before coming to teach at the Tech Center. She has advanced degrees in science education and school counseling.

This new certification will surely be a boon to her students. A National Research Council report found that students who were taught by National Board Certified teachers show higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by other teachers.

“It was a great professional experience for me,” Debbie Ashley said of the certification process. “It’s really good to have that systematic way of looking at yourself as a teacher so you can see where you want to improve. It makes you more reflective about your teaching.”