Noraa Ransey is one of 4,283 teachers across the Commonwealth who have gone through the NBCT process. Submitted photo
If you had told Noraa Ransey, an educator from Western Kentucky, 20 years ago that she would be writing revisions to a resource for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), she would not have believed you.
But that is exactly what she is doing.
Ransey is one of eight National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from across the nation invited to take part in the third revision of “What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do.”
“When I first showed up to the very first meeting, I remembered I needed to read a book called ‘The Imposter Syndrome’ because I honestly thought that I did not belong in that space,” she said.
As a teenager, college was not on her radar.
At the age of 15, Ransey was living on her own and taking care of herself. Her family all worked factory jobs, and becoming a teacher never once crossed her mind.
“When I was 15 and 16, I also took care of my two sisters,” she said. “We grew up in the trailer parks of Western Kentucky. I wasn’t on a college track or anything. I was bound to work the factories like everyone else in my family has always done.”
During her sophomore year of high school, her English teacher pulled her aside after class to discuss her journal writing assignments, wanting an explanation as to why Ransey was not enrolled in the higher-level English classes.
“She said she had read my journals every day and I wrote like a college student and asked why I wasn’t in the college classes. I thought that was what I was supposed to take, and I realized that I just needed a little bit of support, and she gave me that,” said Ransey.
After high school graduation, she attended Murray State University to obtain her bachelor’s degree while working three jobs. Upon attaining her degree, Ransey continued to work at Arby’s where she had become a store manager.
“It took me a little longer than most people, but even when I was getting ready as I graduated, I was managing Arby’s at that point,” said Ransey.
Each morning, she said, a principal in Calloway County would go through the Arby’s drive-thru. One day, the principal told her they were hiring teachers. That afternoon following work, Ransey showed up to the school for an interview and received an offer to teach in Calloway County that very day.
“Twenty years later, I’m still here and I still wake up and I think I get to be a teacher and I love it. It’s what I was meant to be,” she said.
Over the years, Ransey has been involved in numerous associations and organizations both locally and nationally. In 2020, she was named Kentucky Education Association Teacher of the Year and achieved her National Board Certification in Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood.
National Board Certification is voluntary and open to all teachers currently teaching with a state-issued license. Certification can be issued after three years of teaching experience. Certification is available in 25 certificate areas from preschool through 12th grade.
NBCTs are entitled to an annual $2,000 salary bonus for the life of their certificate, plus they get a bump in their rank status.
Most recently, Ransey was asked to help with the revisions of the “What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do” book.
“It’s a first book that you can give to anybody. You can hand it to legislators. You can hand it to the admin who isn’t sure about the process. It’s just a really good resource for really anybody,” said Ransey. “If you’re thinking about being certified but you’re not sure it’s for you, you can read through that book.”
First written in 1989, the book is a resource specifically written by teachers, for teachers. The goal is to support educators by maintaining high standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do by explaining and breaking down the National Board’s Five Core Propositions for teaching.
“We’ve worked on revising everything and including other work that has been done,” she said. “It was just amazing to be invited and to walk into the room. You’re like, wow, these are my people.”
The five core propositions mentioned in the book are:
- Teachers are committed to students and their learning;
- Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students;
- Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning;
- Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience; and
- Teachers are members of learning communities.
In addition to her work on the book, as a National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) Minority Teacher Mentor, Ransey works with educators pursuing National Board Certification. She also works with the Kentucky Education Association, where she recruits teachers of color and mentors them from the first year of teaching and beyond.
She also has worked extensively with the National Education Association to mentor aspiring educators taking the Praxis teacher examination and with the organization’s diversity initiative, where she has created modules on diversity for classroom implementation.
“My favorite thing about teaching is creating a team and building relationships with them and their families. I just think it’s so important and I’ve seen the value of a teacher in my own life,” Ransey said. “You know, people say teachers change lives. But in my case, I think my teacher saved my life because there’s no telling where I would be today.”
She presently serves as the Kentucky Education Association ethnic minority director and a mentor of Aspiring Educators of Color with the National Education Association. She has also served on the Kentucky NBCT Network Board, where she chaired the organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and was a member of the advisory board for Murray State University.
Ransey said the revision process of the book is still underway and currently being reviewed for public comment. The team hopes to launch this third version in 2025.
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