Washington's NBCTs have an emerging and critical role recommending policy to improve the quality of education in our schools. That role may be novel to many NBCTs; it requires teachers to think outside of their classroom and school and to consider the range of conditions that will assure quality instruction and student achievement.

What is POLICY? It is a principle, plan or course of action pursued by a governmental entity. It is a set of decisions and actions prescribed to remedy issues or concerns. At the district level, a superintendent or school board usually makes education policy. At the state level, the Governor, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and/or the State Legislature make policy. Policy sometimes requires legislation, but it can also result from action by the State Board of Education (SBE), Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB), Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) or OSPI.

The executive branch - the U.S. Department of Education - makes policy at the national level acting through legislation passed by Congress. For example, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), otherwise known as "The No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB), was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Next, the US Department of Education developed regulations for implementation. These regulations became policies that require certain actions by states and by local school districts. The US Department of Education also issues guidance that does not have the force of law, but shapes policy.

For the purpose of our Washington Policy Summit, we are looking for direct, specific policy recommendations that can inform the dialogue at the state and local levels about attracting and retaining accomplished teachers in high-needs schools. Our focus during the Summit will be on crafting specific solutions to this complex, systemic problem and sharing them with people in the state who are positioned to create policies that will make NBCT recommendations a reality. You, Washington's most accomplished teachers, know best how to approach the crisis, and your thinking should become a major resource to guide policy makers.

The recommendations made at this Summit will be shared with policy makers, the education community, other NBCTs, and the public at large. They will serve as a road map for charting the direction the state takes to ensure an equitable distribution of highly accomplished teachers throughout the state. They will also help ensure a successful future for all of our state's children.

The following two reports were created from the summit and the discussions that occurred during follow-up activity.

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On October 21, 2006, more than 200 Washington National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) assembled in Seattle to address the vexing problem of recruiting and retaining accomplished teachers for high-needs schools. Before the Summit, the NBCTs read a number of background papers and research summaries. At the Summit, they listened to the state’s leading policymakers and fellow educators articulate their views on the issues at hand and then participated in ten highly structured, small group work sessions. Facilitated by specially prepared teacher leaders, the NBCTs analyzed the facts, grounded themselves in their own classroom experiences, and then developed preliminary ideas about what needed to be done. After the Summit, they remained connected and continued the conversation via a powerful web-based study group where they refined their thinking and provided more details regarding how and why certain recruitment and retention strategies would or would not work.

Click here to view the full report

Click here to view a two page summary of the report.

The following are ten suggestions that we used to help us talk to policy makers during and after the Summit. They helped us as we drafted specific recommendations and then engaged in Summit follow-up activity.

10 Suggestions on How to Talk to Policy Makers

1. Know your audience. Learn your legislators, council members, and school board members. Know their responsibilities and history on the issues.

2. Define your message. Policymaker time is valuable and limited. Know the point you want to make and make it clearly and directly. Be specific.

3. Connect issues to students. Anything else appears to be self-centered. If your message is about you, it will not be well received.

4. Be aware of the other side of the issue. Know what others are saying, acknowledge it, and offer a more compelling, research-based argument.

5. Be positive. Have success stories ready to share that illustrate why your issue is valuable and necessary for student improvement.

6. Know the cost. Eventually the conversation will evoke a question about money. Be prepared to explain how the cost is an investment and the right thing to do.

7. Talk to other teachers. An issue's importance is measured by the genuine contact made from a number of sources. Make sure your colleagues get involved.

8. Don't use education jargon. Do not assume legislators or other policy makers know the language you take for granted. Explain what the abbreviated title of a program means.

9. Contact legislators and other policy makers before you need them. Get to know them, communicate routinely, and make them feel part of your work. Do not wait until you have a crisis.

10. Tell legislators and other policy makers the good news. If you want to be taken seriously, share examples of how students have benefited from their partnership with teachers. If your only contacts are negative, don't make contact.