Sean C. Morgan
Hawthorne special education teacher and consultant on autism Tami White on Friday became the first teacher in School District 55 to earn her National Board Certification.
The certification is offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. With it, teachers may receive certification to teach from any state but Oregon, where she must still meet different local standards to maintain her certification.
Upon completion of the certification, the National Board provides $2,500 to the local district for professional development. The District 55 School Board and teachers created a $10,000 stipend for any teachers earning the certification. The teachers are expected to remain with the district for at least two more years after receiving the stipend.
Her specialty area was in severe and moderate disabilities, which includes students between five and 21 years old with a range of cognitive abilities often accompanied by sensory, physical, emotional and health impairments.
The students served by these teachers may have severe or profound mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, uncontrolled seizure disorders, dual sensory impairments, autism, neurological impairments, physical impairments and health impairments.
The National Board Certification program costs about $2,500, White said, but the Ford Foundation provided her a grant for all but about $200. The foundation also provided technical support through a mentor.
White especially wanted to thank resource teacher Linda Leveque, who works next door to her at Hawthorne, for her help and support.
Work leading up to the certification includes development of four portfolios on different topics. In filling these portfolios, teachers must prepare lessons, videotape the lessons and analyze them. They also must take a test in six different topics.
White started working on her certification in August 2002. She turned in her portfolios in March and found out on Friday.
She screamed, her classroom assistants said.
“I was jumping up and down for joy,” White said. She found out by checking her scores on the Internet.
White started working with the district in 1991 in special education. She spent four years as a consultant with students with severe handicaps. She spent the next four years teaching kindergarten through second grade at Crawfordsville and a couple of years teaching basic life skills to special education students.
Now she works as part of the Pals Program, dealing with students with disabilities who need extra support, “kind of like a life skills at the intermediate level.”
Sweet Home was her first teaching job after working for Head Start for a year. She earned her degree in elementary education degree at the University of Oregon where she took courses in special education. After graduation, there was a surplus of elementary teacher but a shortage of special education teachers, so she went on to Western Oregon University and earned her master’s degree in special education.
She moved to the Sweet Home area in 1982 from the Portland area.
“I really like individuals, and I work with a lot of unique individuals,” White said. “They’re a lot of fun. They’re very funny, and we laugh a lot in this classroom. I’m pretty laid back. I accept who they are. I have pretty clear expectations with consequences and rewards. I take their interests and try to build on them.”
White works with three assistants and a caseload of 10 students. She also consults on 38 cases of autism.