A Greenfield High School teacher has earned arguably the highest national teaching credential available.

Christy Timms earned certification for exceptional needs specialist/early childhood through young adulthood through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Just 100,000 teachers around the nation have earned this level of certification. A total of 79 teachers from Wisconsin earned that honor this year.

The teachers earned their certifications after a series of assessments including four portfolio entries that feature teaching practice and six constructed response exercises that assess content knowledge. The entire certification process takes between one and three years to complete.

Wisconsin is among approximately two-thirds of states that provide salary incentives and cover some costs to achieve the advanced credential. State teachers can receive up to $2,000 to reimburse the cost of earning national board certification and nine annual stipends of $2,500 if they remain employed as educators.

“Research shows that when educators go through the required steps to earn national board certification, there is a positive impact on student achievement,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers. “Educator effectiveness is critical to helping our students succeed, and national board certification is one means to ensure the quality of the teacher in the classroom.”