The authors present an analysis of portfolio entries submitted by candidates seeking certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the area of Early Adolescence/Mathematics. Analyses of mathematical features revealed that the tasks used in instruction included a range of mathematics topics but were not consistently…

The Washington Initiative (WI) was created in 2001 as an effort to help strengthen education reform in Washington by addressing teacher quality. The major strategies of the WI were to increase the number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and to support the leadership of these teachers in local…

In this brief article, the author discusses the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the certification process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), which was created in 1987 in order to establish high standards for what accomplished teachers should know…

The first in a series of long-awaited studies indicates that nationally certified teachers are more effective at raising their students' reading and math scores than are teachers who apply for the credential but do not receive it. Although critics have questioned the expenditure of state and district money on National Board for Professional…

This article guides the reader through the actual, step-by-step process of preparing the web-based NASPE/NCATE program report. The following five sections are discussed in detail: (1) contextual information; (2) assessments and related data; (3) standards assessment chart; (4) evidence for meeting standards; and (5) use of assessment results to…

This brief summarizes findings from several research articles that focus on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). This work focuses on three key questions: Who applies for and becomes National Board certified? Where do National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) teach? Are they more effective than other teachers? The…

North Carolina and Florida lead the nation in total number of teachers with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification. About 71 percent of all NBPTS certificates were awarded to teachers in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states in 2000-01. Seven SREB states were among the top 10 states in number of teachers…

Interest in, and debate about, teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and dispositions is not new (Cruickshank & Haefele, 2001). What is new is the inclusion of dispositions in the standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, 2003), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS, 1998), and the…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to construct a description and interpretation of the standards development process of the Early Childhood/Generalist Standards documents, both first edition and second edition, using an analysis of the actions of and interactions between committee members, professional organization representatives,…

U.S. foreign language education encompasses many languages, cultures, and perspectives. The ACTFL "Proficiency Guidelines" and National Standards/Assessments provide common measures and goals that enhance students' language progress as they enter higher education. NCATE Teacher certification guidelines and organizational communication…

Colloquium discussants Ronald Swartz and Mary Otto (Oakland University), Father Walter Krolikowski and Peggy Fong (Loyola University), and William Schubert and Victoria Chou (University of Illinois at Chicago) address teacher certification program philosophy, state and national standards, and other issues. (SK)

Since its creation in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has implemented a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet rigorous teaching standards. Testimony from over 16,000 NBPTS certified teachers has revealed that the journey toward certification is often difficult, time-consuming, and…

In the last ten years further education has moved from a sector characterised as being in a state of 'benign neglected' by central government to one which has grown in importance to policy makers and in turn has become more and more regulated. Below I describe and critically analyse these changes, focusing on the initial training and professional…

Discusses National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification, examining five problematic issues: lack of agreement on criteria for assessing teacher performance, slender evidentiary basis for assessment, the board's inability to authenticate or verify the accuracy of the materials received, secrecy surrounding the board's…

This study investigates what teachers learn from a graduate-level course that prepares them to pursue an advanced form of professional teaching certification based on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). The study draws from Habermas's (1972, 1974) three knowledge constitutive interests--the technical, the practical, and…