In 2006, special education teachers made up 12% of the educational workforce but only 7% of National Board Certified teachers. In contrast, general education teachers made up 88% of the educational workforce and 93% of National Board Certified teachers. This study surveyed a sample of special education teachers who successfully completed…

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional impact of the National Board Certification from the perspective of teachers who have achieved National Board Certification, which is granted through the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. This phenomenological study involved interviews with 10 National Board Certified…

The AFT and the NEA have produced this candidate guide to help our members navigate the National Board Certification process. The guide provides practical advice and suggestions from National Board Certified Teachers, candidates, and candidate support providers. The guide complements the candidate materials provided by the National Board and…

The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is to establish "high and rigorous standards for what teachers should know and be able to do, to certify teachers who meet those standards, and to advance other education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools." In response to…

This study examined whether having a teacher with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification improves student achievement. The study analyzed data on about 3,800 second through fifth grade students taught by 198 teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Study data were from 2003-04 and 2004-05. The authors…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of teacher certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) on student achievement. This study considered the research question, are there significant mean differences for measures of student achievement between schools with a higher percentage of national board…

While conducting a study of mentoring teacher candidates for National Board Certification, the researchers discovered some controversial evidence in three cases written by candidate support providers who were coaching teachers to develop their portfolio entries. This evidence could be interpreted as crossing the boundaries of appropriate mentoring…

In an attempt to better support the mathematics and science learning experiences of preservice teacher candidates, a new course of study was created as part of a teacher certification program at a mid-Atlantic liberal art university. Entitled Investigations in Science and Mathematics, the two semester course adopted an integrated inquiry and…

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) assesses teaching practice based on videos and essays submitted by teachers. We compared the performance of classrooms of elementary students in Los Angeles randomly assigned to NBPTS applicants and to comparison teachers. We used information on whether each applicant achieved…

How is it known if states are making progress toward having a qualified teacher in every classroom? One indicator of progress in the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB) "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education is when: "Licensure and certification focus on performance and lead to sufficient numbers of teachers with content…

Back when the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was launched in 1987, most of the talk in its favor cited one overarching problem: the weakness of the teaching profession. If professional standards were better defined, if professional rewards were greater, the argument went, schools and learning would improve. These days…

This study examines trends in Black student achievement and in the Black-White achievement gap over the period 2000 to 2007, employing data from ten states drawn from the NAEP Grade 8 mathematics assessments. Results are obtained for three levels of aggregation: the state, school poverty stratum within the state, and schools within poverty…

This article investigates the value of the term "highly qualified" as it relates to teachers of students with visual impairments. Routes to certification of teachers of students with visual impairments in the United States are not uniform and may not always reflect high-quality teacher preparation. A rationale for more stringent national…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

Since its inception in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards[R] (NBPTS) has met its goals of creating standards for what teachers should know and be able to do and established a national voluntary certification system for accomplished teachers. To help commemorate its 20th anniversary, the NBPTS has published this report to…