National Board Certification

Abstract

Increasing Participation and Assessing Impacts The authors present the findings of one of the first studies of teachers who have participated in the certification process of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and they offer recommendations for assessing the impact of such certification and for making it a more effective and widely used part of the education system. Conventional wisdom holds that student achievement will improve if we develop curriculum standards, give students more tests, and make teachers accountable for test scores. Among the fallacies underlying that wisdom is the assumption that accountability will enable teachers apply new curriculum standards and teaching methods even if they are inconsistent with the teachers' previous training, with contemporary school practice, and with the accountability measures themselves. We have always tended underestimate the gap between developing curriculum standards and implementing them in the classroom. In the past decade, several education organizations have tried address this problem by developing programs that would make teacher education and certification more consistent with the new standards. One of these, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, sets standards for teachers and certifies those who meet the standards. The National Board was highlighted in President Clinton's 1997 State of the Union address, which described its role this way: [T]o have the best schools. we must have the best teachers. . . . For years, many of our educators, led by North Carolina's Governor Jim Hunt and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, have worked very hard establish nationally accepted credentials for excellence in teaching. . . . We should reward and recognize our best teachers.(1) In this article we present the findings of one of the first studies of teachers who have participated in the certification process, and we offer recommendations for assessing the impact of National Board certification and for making it a more effective and more widely used part of the education system. Background The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established in 1987 on the recommendation of the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching as a Profession.(2) The mission of the National Board is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able do, develop and operate a national voluntary system assess and certify teachers who meet these standards, and advance related education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools.(3) It is governed by a board of 64 directors, the majority of whom are classroom teachers. A related goal of the National Board is collaborate with other reform efforts improve schools by increasing the supply of highly qualified teachers (with special emphasis on teachers from racial and ethnic minority groups) and by improving teacher training and professional development. To achieve these goals, the certification process requires a substantial commitment on the part of applicants.(4) In the first part of the assessment, teachers seeking certification submit portfolios based on student work, videotapes, and other examples of their teaching. The second part, conducted at an assessment center, requires teachers perform a set of exercises, including evaluation of texts and teaching materials, analysis of teaching situations, and assessment of student learning based on knowledge of subject matter, teaching methods, and student needs.(5) Under a grant funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, George Washington University and Norfolk State University worked with teachers who were seeking certification from the National Board. The findings reported below are based on telephone interviews conducted in 1997 with 28 of the 38 teachers who had been supported by the Pew grant project team over the previous three years. …