If You Ask Me: A force in learning: A factor in teacher excellence

Given that schools can only be as good as the quality of the professionals who work in them, a teacher quality movement is slowly sweeping across America. More and more teachers are joining the ranks of the nation’s most accomplished teachers by achieving National Board certification, a gold standard that assesses a teacher’s content knowledge and teaching skills against the most advanced teaching standards in the nation.

Local school boards and district administrators have an important role to play in encouraging and supporting their teachers to seek National Board certification—a proven reform in American education, recently affirmed by the highly respected National Research Council of the National Academies, one that “distinguishes more effective teachers from less effective teachers with respect to student achievement.”

In the most rigorous and comprehensive study to date about National Board certification, the NRC observed that students taught by National Board-certified teachers make higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by teachers who have not applied and those who did not achieve certification.

The NRC also acknowledged research showing National Board certification has a positive impact on teacher retention. This is especially significant given that nearly half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years––which, on average, costs school districts about $12,000 per teacher. The report also found that the certification process is an effective professional development experience that positively affects teaching practices.

Additionally, the report found that the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards needs strong support and coordination by states, districts and schools as well as higher education and other nongovernmental organizations. NBPTS is pleased that California and dozens of the state’s school districts provide recognition and financial incentives to teachers who pursue and achieve National Board certification. Some of the policies in place include:

• California NBCTs who work in low-performing schools earn a state-awarded bonus of $20,000 over a four-year period

• NBCTs in the Anaheim Union High School District earn an annual $2,000 bonus

• NBCTs in the Los Angeles Unified School District can earn up to a 15 percent increase in salary for the 10-year life of the National Board certificate

• NBCTs in the Oceanside Unified School District earn an annual 6 percent salary increase

• NBCTs in the San Francisco Unified School District earn an annual $5,000 bonus

Many business leaders will tell you that a strong education is the foundation of a strong economy and that teacher quality is the most critical factor in raising student achievement. NBPTS is extremely grateful to the businesses that support National Board certification by providing financial assistance to teachers throughout the state who wish to pursue it. These companies include Boeing, Edison International, Northrop Grumman, Pitney Bowes, State Farm Companies Foundation and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.

Through the National Board Scholarship Program, teachers in your districts may be eligible for scholarships, which are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. To get more information on programs in California, visit the National Board’s Web site at www.nbpts.org. Click on the “Get Local” section of the home page.

Working together, we can provide support for more California teachers to become NBCTs and become teacher leaders in schools, reach more students and forge closer relationships with school and district leaders.

Perhaps the most heartening news from the NRC report is that NBPTS and National Board certification have taken the culture of teaching to a higher level. From the onset, as acknowledged by the NRC, NBPTS has been viewed as an “innovative” and groundbreaking organization that challenged historic and cultural trends in education. Underscoring this statement, Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University, said at a meeting last year about the progress and future of NBPTS: “Education is where medicine was in 1910––on the verge of creating a profession of teaching. The National Board’s work has been critical in developing standards and embedding them in the practice of teaching.”

School boards and district administrators throughout California are critical to using NBCTs to create and support learning in all schools—especially high-need schools. NBCTs, in collaboration with other teacher leaders and administrators, can improve support for new and struggling teachers and change school cultures. NBPTS seeks to inform principals about National Board certification as a vehicle for school improvement; develop a certification process for school leadership; and utilize school-based teams of teachers to improve practice and open the doors of the classroom.

Nearly 64,000 teachers nationwide (including approximately 3,900 in California) have achieved National Board certification. The number of NBCTs has nearly tripled over the past five years, and we anticipate that as more teachers, administrators, school board members, parents and other stakeholders learn of the value of this certification, a greater investment will result in greater positive impact for teachers and their students.

Last year’s class of NBCTs was the largest ever, as more than 8,500 educators became National Board certified. The 2007 achievement marked a nearly 9 percent increase over the number of teachers who earned certification in 2006.

While representing only about 2 percent of the nation’s teaching population, NBCTs consistently receive our nation’s top teaching honors. For example, nearly a quarter of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2008 State Teachers of the Year are NBCTs. They include Lewis Chappelear, a teacher at James Monroe High School in North Hills, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Developed and administered by NBPTS, National Board certification is attained through a performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete. Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who earn certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review.

Another NBPTS initiative that is gaining momentum across the country is Take One!, a professional development tool that provides a standards-based approach for linking student learning to effective instruction and school-based learning communities.

The process allows teachers to “sample” National Board certification—not only to improve their teaching practices within their classrooms and schools, but also to begin the path toward National Board candidacy, if they so choose. Julius Corsini Elementary School, in the Palm Springs Unified School District, was the subject of an article about professional development recently published in California Educator, the California Teachers Association publication. The entire faculty, along with the principal in this Title I school, opted to either seek “full boards” or participate in Take One!, and they met regularly throughout the school year to focus on accomplished teaching.

NBCTs are leading the way in preparing America’s diverse student population with the skills needed to compete in the 21st century. With each new cadre of these outstanding educators, more students are benefiting from effective strategies and renewed commitment to student learning that these accomplished teachers bring to the classroom. Anne L. Bryant, executive director of the National School Boards Association, said it best: “We learned that if teachers go through the National Board process, they can be not only the best teachers, but the best change agents.”

It is critical that we make smart investments in the ability of teachers to help students meet higher standards. NBPTS provides tools for education leaders to make those investments.

Joseph A. Aguerrebere, Ed.D., is president and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Statndards.