National Board Certification

Natinal Board Certification
National Board Certification is a symbol of professional teaching excellence. A certificate will attest that a teacher was judged by his or her peers as one who is accomplished, makes sound professional judgments about students' best interests and acts effectively on those judgments. Offered on a voluntary basis, National Board Certification complements -but does not replace- state licensing. While state licensing systems set entry-level standards for novice teachers, National Board Certification establishes advanced standards for experienced teachers.

History
Created in 1987 in response to the 1983 President’s Commission on Excellence in Education report, A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, and the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy’s Task Force on Teaching as a Profession report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century.

Governance
NBPTS is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and non-governmental organization governed by a board of directors, with the majority of its members being classroom teachers. Other directors include school administrators, school board leaders, governors and state legislators, higher education officials, representatives from teachers’ unions and disciplinary organizations, and business and community leaders.

Mission
To advance the quality of teaching and learning by maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards. Advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers in our schools.

Five Core Propositions
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards seeks to identify and recognize teachers who effectively enhance student learning and demonstrate the high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and commitments reflected in the following five core propositions.

• Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning.
• Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and how to Teach Those Subjects to Students
• Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning
• Teachers Think Systematically About Their Practice and Learn From Experience
• Teachers are Members of Learning Communities

National Board Certification Process
Teachers must demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a series of performance-based assessments that include student work samples, videotapes, and rigorous analyses of their classroom teaching and student learning. It can take between 200 to 400 hours of individual work to complete

• Written exercises probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students.
• It is offered to teachers on a voluntary basis. While state licensing systems set requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certification establishes high and rigorous advanced standards for experienced teachers to demonstrate accomplished practice. A National Board Certificate is valid for 10 years.
• It is available to all teachers who hold a baccalaureate degree, have taught for a minimum of three years, whether in a public or private school, and have held a valid state teaching license for those three years.

The Benefits that National Board Certification Includes

• Develops cadres of collaborative, reflective professionals who meet high standards of practice
• Improves teaching like no other professional development opportunity
• Sets high and rigorous standards for what teachers should know and be able to do
• Encourages self reflection with a rigorous and challenging assessment process
  
  

International Studies Homepage

OSU College of Education
International Studies
329 Willard Hall
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405/744-8932
Fax: 405/744-6399
E-Mail: nani.idrus@okstate.edu

Last Updated Wednesday, April 12, 2006 1:23 PM