Teachers Make Case for National Board

Washington

Conflicting data on the extent of the impact that nationally certified teachers have on student achievement do not paint a complete picture of the benefits of the rigorous certification process on the participants, their schools, and their students, a report by a group of teachers that have earned the credential concludes.

Teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the group says, should take a more active role in policy discussions and instructional decisions, and promote a definition of teacher quality that goes beyond test results.

“If we continue to sit by and let others define effective teaching, we will always be reactors, not actors, on the school reform stage where the policies that control our daily work play out,” says the report , “Measuring What Matters: The Effects of National Board Certification on Advancing 21st Century Teaching and Learning.” It was commissioned by the national board and the Center for Teaching Quality in Hillsborough, N.C.,...