The space between the two epigraphs presented at the beginning of this article marks the difference between an insider and an outsider. Ms Barbieri, from "Voices from the Middle," made the first comments as an expression of what reflective practice -- observing and critiquing video tapes of hers and others' teaching -- could mean to her as an experienced teacher who had logged four years of work with the development of national board certification for early adolescence/English language arts (EA/ELA) teachers. She made the second set of comments after the Educational Testing Service (ETS) had taken over the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification assessment, and after she had participated in their 'scoring' of teachers' performances on three exercises in the assessment's teaching portfolio. This article offers the reader the opportunity to think about standards setting, certification assessments, and professional development. It also offers the reader to think about who benefits and about who is invited to the table. The author hopes to have convinced educators that they have to be active in these things in order to be insiders in standards and certification assessments. [This article was originally published in "English in Australia," 122, pp. 45--55, 1998.]