National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

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The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in education. Founded in 1987, NBPTS improves teaching and student learning by enhancing overall educator effectiveness and recognizing and rewarding highly accomplished educators who meet high and rigorous standards. NBPTS develops and maintains advanced standards for educators and offers a national, voluntary assessment, National Board Certification, based on the NBPTS Standards. As of December 2007, there are 64,000 National Board Certified Teachers in the United States. The NBPTS headquarters is located in Arlington, Va.[1]

Contents

[edit] Mission

The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is 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,[1]
  • Providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards, and
  • Advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification in American education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers.

[edit] History

NBPTS was formed in response to a 1986 report issued by the Task Force on Teaching as a Profession, a group funded by the Carnegie Forum on Education. The report, entitled A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century, called for the creation of a board to “define what teachers should know and be able to do” and to “support the creation of a rigorous, valid assessment to see that certified teachers do meet these standards.” The founding president of NBPTS was James A. Kelly, and the original chair of the board of directors was the Honorable James B. Hunt Jr., former governor of North Carolina.

[edit] Standards

NBPTS Standards are based on the Five Core Propositions — the foundation of what all accomplished teachers should know and be able to do — and provide a reference that helps educators link teaching standards to teaching practice. NBPTS publishes standards of “accomplished teaching” for 25 subject areas and developmental levels for pre-K through 12th grade. These standards were developed and validated by representative councils comprised of master teachers, disciplinary organizations and other education experts.

[edit] National Board Certification

National Board Certification is advanced professional certification based on the NBPTS standards. There are 25 different certificates available. The assessment for National Board Certification consists of a multimedia teaching portfolio that is used to evaluate pedagogy and student outcomes, and a six-hour written examination.[2]

[edit] Research

Since the founding of NBPTS it has become one of the most researched areas of education. Research has reviewed the impact of National Board Certification on student performance, the quality of teaching by National Board Certified Teachers in the classroom, the influence of the process on teacher retention. Most, but not all of the research, is positive.[3]

[edit] External Links


[edit] References

  1. ^ (nd) About NBPTS. Retrieved 2/20/08.
  2. ^ (nd) Guide to National Board Certification. Retrieved 2/25/08.
  3. ^ (nd) National Board Certification Research Guide. Retrieved 2/27/08.