Bookends

National Board Certification Components 2–4 have a similar structure in their writing requirements: They are initially grounded in a teacher's knowledge of their students, and they conclude with a strong reflective component. Accomplished teachers know how to gather a variety of data (quantitative and/or qualitative) about their students and use it to inform instruction. After implementing the data-driven instruction, an accomplished teacher always reflects on the outcomes with a critical lens. This includes analyzing what went well (and why) and what could be improved upon (and how). The goal of the entire process is to move students along the path to language proficiency, and the teacher's knowledge of students is at the forefront of each round of the cycle, while their insightful reflection finishes it.