Accomplished Teaching = Student Learning, Part 1

One of the best kept secrets in education might be the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

(Open Disclosure: I am an NBCT and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Board).

Since 1987, the Board has worked “to advance student
learning and achievement by establishing the definitive standards and systems
for certifying accomplished educators….”(Mission
Statement, NBPTS).

While the rancorous and often misinformed media and
political debate over education reform has grabbed most of the air, the
National Board has quietly and methodically done what no one else has: Defined
what good teaching is and provided a consistent means to identify those who
know how to do it.

Most important of all, those Standards
have been developed by teachers for teachers.

The
Carnegie Corporation of New York funded the establishment of NBPTS following
the recommendations of the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy’s Task
Force on Teaching as a Profession.

The
task force’s final report — A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century —
released on May 15, 1986, called for the creation of a board to “define what
teachers should know and be able to do” and “support the creation of rigorous,
valid assessments to see that certified teachers do meet those standards.” (History)

The National Board now has standards for 25 areas of
education from early childhood through high school, in almost every subject
area. These standards were developed and validated by committees of master
teachers, along with representatives of subject area organizations and other
education experts. The standards also go through a regular cycle of reviewing
and updating, also led by teachers.

Under pressure to improve the quality of their graduates,
many of the nation’s teacher education programs now use National Board
standards as part of their curriculum; some of those programs are including NBCTs
[a teacher who has earned National Board Certification] as full or part-time
instructors.

Similarly, as states and districts scramble to develop new
more rigorous teacher evaluation systems, some have turned to National Board standards
and teachers for guidance. It is not enough to have a generic checklist or to do
a superficial classroom walk through (“Hmm, nice bulletin boards”). Nor does
just collecting student achievement data reveal who is or is not a great
teacher.

In honor of the National Board’s 25^th
anniversary, I’ll be sharing a series on the standards and the teachers who
write them.