Certification Council

Phil Wilson is an elementary school music teacher in Auburn, Alabama. He earned his National Board Certification in Early and Middle Childhood Music in 2010, renewing in 2019. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education in 2020. Phil’s research focused on the perspectives of music teachers on the National Board Certification process and why more music teachers in the southeastern United States were not completing board certification. For six years, he served on the Alabama Network of National Board-Certified Teachers’ board of directors as the outreach director. From 2016-to 2021, he was the Alabama Music Educator Association Elementary Division President. He has won a plethora of awards throughout the years, most notably being named the Alabama Teacher of the Year in 2010. Phil is a true believer in National Board Professional Teaching Standards and continues his work to strengthen and promote the National Board.

Saroja Warner, NBCT, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized expert in educator workforce initiatives and culturally responsive teaching, leading and school cultures. She currently serves as the Director for Talent Development and Diversity at WestEd. In this role, she provides strategic leadership for WestEd’s technical assistance, research, and policy work with state education agencies, district leaders, and school-based educators focused on developing and retaining an effective, culturally responsive, and racially and linguistically diverse educator workforce and increasing educators’ and leaders’ use of policies and practices that promote successful and equitable learning outcomes for each student. Dr. Warner has also served as co-director of two Comprehensive Centers, federally funded education services centers run by WestEd serving states in the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions of the U.S. Before joining the WestEd team, she was the Director of Teacher Workforce Initiatives at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). She led several national initiatives there, including the Network for Transforming Educator Preparation (NTEP) and the Diverse and Learner-Ready Teachers Initiative (DLRT). Before that, she served as the Chief for Educator Preparation Program Approval at the Maryland State Department of Education and as Senior Director for Performance, Measurement, and Research at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Dr. Warner started her career as a high school social studies teacher, earning her National Board Certification in Social Studies-History/Adolescence and Young Adulthood in 2004 and renewing that certification in 2014. She also serves as faculty in the graduate teacher preparation program at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 2008, teaching in the program that prepared her to be a teacher and where she earned her doctorate to support the development of tomorrow’s culturally responsive teachers.

Suzanne Lane is a Professor of Research Methodology in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarly interests are in educational measurement and testing, with a focus on design, technical, validity and policy issues in large-scale testing, including performance-based assessments. She has published in the Journal of Educational Measurement, Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Assessment, and Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. She is a co-editor of the Handbook of Test Development, 2nd edition. She was the President of NCME (2003-2004), Vice President of Division D-AERA (2000-2002), member of the Joint Committee for revising the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1993-1999). Suzanne served on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Educational Measurement, Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Assessment, Educational Researcher, and Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. She sat on technical advisory boards for ETS, The College Board, PARCC, NCSC Alternate Assessment Consortium, AICPA, ABIM, PSI, NBPTS, and state assessment and accountability systems. Suzanne has served as a member of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for NBTS since 2014.

Maria E. Hyler is the Deputy Director of the Learning Policy Institute’s Washington, D.C. office. She co-leads LPI’s Educator Quality team and directs the Educator Preparation Laboratory (EdPrepLab) in partnership with Bank Street Graduate School of Education. EdPrepLab centers on teacher and leader preparation for deeper learning and equity working to transform educator preparation through the alignment of research, practice, and policy.

Before taking her position at LPI, Maria was an Assistant Professor of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. She began her career teaching 10th and 11th graders in Belmont, CA where she achieved National Board Certification in Adolescent Young Adult English Language Arts in 2000. That same year, she left her classroom to pursue her doctoral studies. Maria received a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Stanford University, an M.Ed. with a teaching credential from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a dual degree in English and Africana Studies from Wellesley College.

Lynece Michelle Galles is a National Board Certified Teacher in Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood. She presently works the West Aurora School District in Montgomery, Illinois, as a literacy resident. She has endorsements in elementary education, gifted education, language arts and social science education, and literacy/reading instruction. Galles is also a Google Certified Educator, Level 1 and Level 2. She has served in many leadership and professional learning roles including the Teacher of Color (ToC) Focus Group for the National Board Resource Center (NBRC) and as a Virtual Instructional Coach with the Illinois Education Association. She is presently completing coursework in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), the science of literacy framework. In addition to serving as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist and student services specialist, she has served as a district professional development facilitator, New Teacher Mentor, and technology integration specialist at the elementary level. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Northern Illinois University and master’s degree in reading and literacy from Benedictine University.

Mark Ellis is a National Board-Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence/Mathematics and current Professor of Education at California State University, Fullerton. Prior to entering higher education, he taught mathematics in grades 6-12 in northern California public schools for six years. He achieved National Board Certification in 1999 and has since renewed twice. Mark earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with an emphasis on mathematics teacher education. He has taught future and current teachers of mathematics in content and methods courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has published over 40 articles and two books including Reimagining the Mathematics Classroom: Creating and Sustaining Productive Learning Environments, K-6. Mark has served as co-chair of the Standards Development Handbook Revisions Committee for National Board and as an elected member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Board of Directors. He was named Distinguished Faculty for the CSU Fullerton College of Education in 2018.

Whitney Aragaki is a National Board Certified Teacher in Mathematics/Adolescence and Young Adulthood. She has served twelve years in the math and science departments at Waiakea High School in Hilo, Hawaii. She has taught students from a variety of backgrounds including general education, special education, multilingual learners, and honors/advanced students in synchronous and asynchronous learning environments. Aragaki has led National Board Core Connections webinars online, led sessions at the National Board Academy Conference, and hosted Educator Roundtables with Hawaii’s Department of Education. Presently, she is a member of Hawaii’s Review Team for Hawaii’s Teachers Standards Board and most recently served as a STEM Ambassador for the United States Department of Defense and as a Teacher Ranger Teacher with the National Park Service where she created curriculum for fourth-grade students about the 2018 Kilauea volcano eruption. Aragaki has been recognized as a 2019 and 2021 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching (PAEMST) State Finalist, 2018 Texaco Teacher of the Year, 2022 Hawaii’s State Teacher of the Year, and as a 2022 National Teacher of the Year Finalist. She is presently pursuing doctoral studies in curriculum and instruction at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Tonia Holmes-Sutton, Ed.D. is leading the way in education advocacy in southern Nevada. Tonia is a National Board Certified Teacher (Early Childhood Generalist) serving children, families, and educators across the country. Her primary service and support have been to children and families of high-needs communities within the Las Vegas Valley.

Holmes-Sutton presently serves as the Nevada Executive Director for Teach Plus leading teachers in leadership in policy and advocacy. Holmes-Sutton served as a former Governor-appointed member on the Nevada State Board of Education. In addition to serving as a Board Director for WestEd, she is also a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Board of Directors and a founding member of the National Network of Accomplished Minoritized Educators. Tonia is committed to excellence in service through education; continuing a family legacy that dates back to the late 1800s when her family established the first school for Blacks in Shelby County School District, Tennessee.

A passionate and committed educational advocate, Tonia is a proponent of professional learning communities, and teaching and family partnerships; advocating for families to engage as full partners in their children’s education to increase student learning and achievement. She has participated in professional staff development as a national consultant and as a presenter at district, state, and national conferences.

Tonia earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education in 2004 and her doctorate in Educational Leadership in 2012 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She was recently recognized as the 2020 Alumna of the Year for the UNLV College of Education. As a military dependent, Tonia has lived in several states throughout the country, as well as overseas. She has made Las Vegas, Nevada home with her husband, Walter, and their daughter Brittany Danielle. Tonia also has six ‘forever’ children that she has cared for throughout recent years who reside in Nevada, Germany, Spain, and Serbia.

Rodrigo Rodríguez-Tovar is a Dual Language Instructional Coach for the Austin Independent School District. He holds a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning styles from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), and he is a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Middle Childhood Generalist. Mr. Rodríguez-Tovar possesses his teaching certificate from the state of Texas with endorsements in Bilingual (Spanish), General, and Gifted Education. He is a facilitator at the district level and a big advocate for Great Public Schools and Dual Language, he works with the National Education Association (NEA) English Language Learners (ELL) Cadre in providing professional development workshops to educators across the nation with Advocacy for ELLs, Standards-Based Instruction and Lesson Development for ELLs, and Assessment of ELLs, and also, supports educators who are transitioning out of the classroom to become instructional coaches within the NEA CAMI- Coaching and Mentoring Initiative. Mr. Rodriguez believes that coaching supports teachers to improve their capacity to reflect and apply their learning to their work with students and also in their work with each other.

Mr. Rodriguez-Tovar is also a National Board cohort facilitator/mentor for teachers who are perusing their National Board Teaching Certification. As a former National Board Fellow, he is committed to sharing valuable competencies with other educators to strengthen and improve the teaching profession to continue making an impact on student learning. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Network of Accomplished Minoritized Educators, NAME, and also for the Texas National Board Coalition for Teachers, TXNBCT. His research interests center on issues of language, culture, equity, and identity- especially as they affect, or are affected by, biliteracy practices. His K-5 public school teaching experience includes 14 years as an educator in a dual language classroom setting, alternating the last four years as the writing literacy coach in a maintenance bilingual program and also, providing interventions in Spanish to students with dyslexia and dysgraphia. Mr. Rodriguez-Tovar was named the National Bilingual Teacher of the Year by the National Bilingual Education Association in March 2017.