TEACHER FINDS ALL HIS WORK PAYS OFF INSTRUCTOR RECEIVES $5,000 STATE GRANT.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- A Palmdale High School English-language development teacher is the latest instructor to join Antelope Valley's ranks of instructors who have earned their profession's highest standard.

Because Victor Guzman Ortiz, 53, has obtained certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and works at a school whose pupils perform poorly on standardized tests, he received a $5,000 grant from the state.

``It was one of the best experiences I've had as far as professional growth. It just makes you a very self-conscious educator. There's a lot of reflection upon your own teaching mode. It makes you very aware of what you do in the classroom, how you relate to students and the community,'' Guzman Ortiz said. ``It was one of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences as far as my professional development.''

Guzman Ortiz is among eight teachers in the Antelope Valley who were awarded the $5,000 stipends by the state this year.

Under the program, the state Department of Education pays certified teachers $5,000 every year for up to four years as long as they work as a classroom teacher at a low-performing school.

A total of 1,200 teachers statewide this year received $5.4million in the teaching incentive awards.

``We have long known that being taught by a great teacher is one key to student success,'' state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell said in a written statement.

``Congratulations to all 1,200 educators who have dedicated themselves to excellence in their profession. They deserve these grants, especially for committing to four years of teaching students truly in need of the best educators.''

Guzman Ortiz last year successfully completed the rigorous two-year process of obtaining national board certification and received the money for the first time this year.

The other seven teachers in the Antelope Valley Union High, Eastside Union and Lancaster school districts are in the second, third or fourth year of the program.

Pamela Martin, a third-grade teacher at Tierra Bonita Elementary School, is in the third year of the program. She said the process was tough but proved to be a good experience.

``It really tested me, and I grew from it. It certainly stretched and tested me as a teacher, my knowledge of the curriculum as well as how I worked with children and what I knew about them,'' Martin said. ``It was a really good tool to take a look at yourself and what you are doing in the classroom.''

Guzman Ortiz, a 25-year educator, has taught two years at Palmdale High. Before that, he worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District, in school districts in Oakland and San Francisco, and at American schools overseas.

He has spent the money on continuing his education toward becoming an administrator and buying classroom supplies.

``There is more to what you need in the classroom than what you are actually given,'' Guzman Ortiz said.

Guzman Ortiz said he has talked to other teachers at his school, and two of them have started the process of becoming board-certified.

The program once also offered a one-time cash reward of $10,000, but that was discontinued because of the state budget crisis.

Founded in 1987, the national board is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.

The process of obtaining certification has been described as being akin to physicians becoming board-certified in their area of specialty.

As part of the certification process, instructors must submit two videos of them teaching in their classrooms and must analyze the literacy skills and growth of two students over the course of a year.

They must also submit lesson plans and develop social studies programs for their students. The teachers also take essay tests on how to plan units of instruction and are given various scenarios to critique and to form plans of action.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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