30 APS Teachers Earned National Board Certification in 2023

APS among top school districts in country for National Board Certified Teachers.

Albuquerque Public Schools ranks among the top 10 school districts in the nation for National Board Certified Teachers.

In 2023 alone, 30 APS teachers earned their National Board Certification, an elite designation given to educators who meet rigorous standards. That brings the total number of National Board Certified Teachers in APS classrooms to 680.

“I congratulate each and every one of these teachers,” Superintendent Scott Elder said. “Achieving this certification takes dedication and a tremendous amount of work. These teachers devoted their time and energy to this process, and they are better educators because of it.”

To achieve board certification, teachers must:

• Pass a computer-based content knowledge assessment by demonstrating an understanding of their content area and teaching practices. They must also demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate content.

• Be able to provide differentiation in instruction. They must gather and analyze information about individual student strengths and needs and use that information to design and implement instruction to advance student learning and achievement.

• Illustrate their teaching practice and learning environment by filming their interactions with students and submitting a report in which they describe, analyze, and reflect on their teaching and interactions with students. Both the video and the written commentary must demonstrate how they engage students and impact their learning.

• Submit evidence of their abilities as an effective and reflective practitioner in developing and applying knowledge of their students; their use of assessments to effectively plan for and positively impact student learning; and collaborate to advance student learning and growth.

More than a decade of research supports the positive impact that National Board Certified Teachers have on students. Students of Board-certified teachers tend to learn more than their peers. Studies have also found that the positive impact of having a board-certified teacher is even greater for Black and Indigenous people, People of Color, and low-income students.

“Teachers who have gone through the Board certification process say that it is the most valuable and transformative professional development they have ever received,” said Andrea Quintana, a National Board Certified Teacher herself and a Teacher Support Specialist at APS. “The opportunity to connect professional learning with classroom practice brings to life a teacher’s experience, helping them reflect on individual student learning needs.”

Quintana said the vast majority of teachers engaging with the National Board standards reported that it had a direct impact on their instructional practices. Those shifts, she added, include adjusting lesson plans to meet the needs of individual students and using data in new ways to assess student progress and learning goals.

APS Teachers Certified in 2023

• Brian Acquesta
• Amy Appel
• Paul Arroyo
• Sayra Brambila
• Alicia Paola Brewer
• Joyce Brush
• Sarah Caldwell
• Kelly Duran-Gonzales
• Megan Edwards
• Colleen Fordyce
• Gabrielle Galvan
• Jennifer Johnson
• Mary Kershaw
• Aidan Kiley
• Laura King
• Rebecca Kostelecky
• Amy Locke
• Timothy Lutz
• Amy Lynn
• Gina McBroom
• Chelsea McCoy
• James Melton
• Valerie Metzner
• Shannyn Pareo
• Gayety Payne
• Shannon Ryan
• Briauna Sierra
• Carlos Vigil
• Micah Wolfe
• Kaitlin Wood