American Board certification

In February, about the time we were to get slammed with several snow days but I still didn’t know it yet–that’s when I signed up for a study program to get my elementary education teaching certificate.

I’d been at a sixth grade basketball tournament and had a random conversation with a woman who traveled the state to train teachers in professional development. She asked if I was a teacher (I must put off a certain vibe) and I told her I only substitute-taught at our local school. She encouraged me to go ahead and get my license because, she said, “it’s never been easier than it is right now. We are in desperate need of great teachers.” 

I can vouch for that. Covid has worn people out–teachers have been piled with more responsibilities, given less help, get paid very little as it is. Kids are rowdier than ever, dealing with social media junk, mental health, and lack of parental support at home. Fresh young teachers coming out of college have little of the life experience it requires to manage the behavioral issues–which is a massive problem. If you care about kids and education, right now is the time to move in that direction.

When I got home from basketball,  I pulled up the state department of education website and perused alternative routes to certification. Since my bachelor’s degree isn’t in a specific subject area (like science, English, history), the best option for me looked to be the American Board Certification for Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) program.
When I signed up, as of February 15th, the cost for the program was $1600–including the materials to study for the elementary education (grades 1-6) portion and the professional teaching knowledge (PTK) portion. This money also covered my testing fee (to be scheduled at a later date through Pearson Vue testing centers).

I was a bit overwhelmed when the email landed in my inbox to begin the program. ABCTE first requires college transcripts (about $17 for me to request and have sent as an e-doc) and a background check form. Once this is accepted, the studying commences. ABCTE recommends you take several months of studying time for each portion–around 4-5 months for both the PTK and subject specialty. My goal was to pass the certification exams before the end of the school year so my state department could process my documents before recent college grads would jam up the system ( I don’t know if that actually happens but it felt like good motivation).

To put myself on a deadline, I immediately scheduled my elementary education exam for two weeks out. Out of those two weeks, my kids were out of school for two long, snow-day-extended weekends amounting to 8 days at home. I worked two days in that same time frame, thus leaving me four whole days to study plus at night after the kids went to bed.
The first thing I did was take all the quizzes to see where I was lacking knowledge. I’m pretty well-read and sort of informed on history (thanks to history buff kids who can tell me off-hand any random fact I’m looking for–”Hey guys–what was the Zimmerman note about in World War II?”) and last year I helped one of the kids take an intensive online Algebra course, so almost all of my initial grades were 60% or above. I reviewed the questions and the correct answers and took notes on my weak areas.

Then I went back and skimmed the study guide and looked up Youtube videos on Civil War events and Prohibition (I think I’m an audio-visual learner. Sometimes simply reading won’t cut it, I need to hear it).  I’m not great at timelines, but I could remember the big highlights, who started what war and why, that kind of thing. Vascular plants versus non-vascular, the layers of Earth, the difference between a comet and a meteor (I have actually no idea), basic chemistry (another subject I just hoped wouldn’t appear on the exam).

The biggest emphasis was on early language, such as graphemes, morphemes, diagraphs–phonetics in general. I am aware of these things because all my kids have learned how to read over the past nine years and my last child is currently a kindergartner.

For the four days I studied, I made sure I didn’t take much of a break from the computer, so as to get used to sitting and staring at the screen (the exam is a few hours long). I took one practice exam at the beginning of those four days, and one at the end. I improved something like 20% overall, so I felt confident when I took the actual exam for Elementary Education.

At the testing center post-exam, I was given an initial paper that said I’d passed. So when I got home, I went ahead and scheduled the PTK portion. This time I tried to be smart about it and give myself at least a month to study.

PTK was a bit trickier for me. I found it wasn’t helpful at all to skim through the list of standards. They sounded like common sense. What ABCTE wants is application of “best practices”. The best help was listening to all of the videos to get a feel for what they’re looking for. I did pretty poorly on my initial practice quizzes, but reading back through the answers to see why I got them wrong was again the best approach to learning what they’re trying to teach. Again, I did poorly on the first practice exam but I knew how to get down to business after knowing my weak spots.

I memorized Bloom’s Taxonomy–they really want to hammer in the idea of what promotes greater thinking in students, what comes first (learning happens with proper scaffolding), and how to build on prior knowledge. There is also a general knowledge of appropriate actions to take if a kid is struggling (don’t embarrass them, seek outside help) or misbehaving (move closer if it’s a small infraction, be swift and direct if it’s egregious).
After I’d listened to every single video, I went back and read through all of the study materials, because by this point I have a reference point for my interest, which is figuring out what I missed and why I was getting it wrong.

When given four multiple-choice questions, my approach was to eliminate two as quickly as possible, then really study the remaining two to tease out the differences. ABCTE advises you to really study the way the question and answers are written, because the correct option is usually only a degree or two off of a wrong one. Think “best practices” instead of “what would I do in this situation?”
My second practice exam was much better. By then I was able to sit down, read the standards, and understand them thoroughly.

As far as the PTK essay portion goes, I was not worried. I love to write and it comes quite naturally to me. I was a bit curious about what the topic might be, but really the idea is to complete the task, not to pound out a thesis. One, write who it’s to, who it’s from, the subject line and date. Two, write five paragraphs; the first addressing the person and the problem, the middle three explaining how to solve it, and the last wrapping it up.
The problem being solved is only a tiny portion of the assignment. You won’t be graded on this portion by someone who is familiar with best teaching practices–you’ll be graded by an English major (just kidding, but probably) who is looking for good spelling, great grammar, complete thoughts. Above all, you must complete the task: five well-formed paragraphs that address the problem with a solution. Don’t overthink it or try to be a hero. 

I passed the PTK exam a month after the Elementary Education exam.
In about a week’s time the grade and report were viewable on my ABCTE dashboard. On April 6th, all the boxes were checked: exam status, documents status (the background check is run after the tests are passed), and certification status.

In all, it took under two months to sign up for the program and complete it. I am still waiting on the hard copies in the mail, but should be able to copy and mail them to the state department within the month.

For the money and time invested, I think ABCTE is an awesome avenue for becoming a certified teacher. As requirements vary from state to state, I cannot speak for the ease of continuing certification and submitting various documents. But I’m glad I did it, and I think if you are interested, you should go for it. It was far easier for me as a mom of four kids to buckle down and study and take an exam than it would’ve been for me to go back to college for a year or two. Far cheaper, too.

My best advice? Set a deadline. Watch and listen to the videos. Practice quizzes and tests are essential. Do one exam, then book the next. Give yourself time, but not so much time that you lose interest or skip the studying. Practice sitting still and reading and focusing–these are all, in my opinion, underrated tools for conquering the exams.

The local school has already asked if I’d be interested in teaching–which is a super nice way of easing into a job interview (ha!). I also love learning more about the profession and best practices, because it keeps me on board with what teachers are doing right now at school. I can be a thoughtful parent and also keep our district accountable to the highest academic standards.

Kids need good teachers now more than ever. 

You can do it!