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Teachers Achieve National Board Certification® Teachers Meet Nation’s Highest Teaching Standards
(Oklahoma City, OK.)—The teacher quality movement in Oklahoma has taken a major step forward following today’s announcement by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS®) ,440 teachers have achieved National Board Certification in 2007.
Oklahoma ranked sixth nationwide in the number of new National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). Specifically,
Oklahoma NBCTs joined the ranks of the nearly 8,500 teachers nationwide who achieved National Board Certification in 2007 – the largest one-year increase in the history of the National Board. Today’s announcement represents an 8.6 percent increase over the number of teachers nationwide who earned certification in 2006. The cumulative total of NBCTs stands at 63,821.
“Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous criteria through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review,” said NBPTS President and CEO Joseph A. Aguerrebere. “Research demonstrates that National Board Certified Teachers consistently outperform their peers in knowledge of subject matter and ability to create challenging and engaging lessons.”
National Board Certification is a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize and reward great teachers—and make them better. While state licensing systems set basic requirements to teach in each state, National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT®s) have successfully demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete. Overall, the first-year achievement rate is about 40 percent, culminating in an achievement rate of approximately 65 percent by the end of the third year.
Education Leadership Oklahoma (ELO), administered by the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation, in partnership with the Oklahoma State Legislature, funds 400 scholarships for certification each year. ELO supports all candidates through the process with specialized professional development. Ted Gillispie of OCTP states, “I am very proud of Oklahoma’s commitment to the National Board Certification process and of the role that the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation has in preparing candidates to go through this rigorous process. We know that National Board Certification impacts teacher quality and the benefactors of teacher quality are the students of Oklahoma.”
As part of the process, teachers build a portfolio that includes student work samples, assignments, videotapes and a thorough analysis of their classroom teaching. Additionally, teachers are assessed on their knowledge of the subjects they teach.
“National Board Certification is part of a growing national movement that advances education reform. It’s a movement that improves teaching, advances student learning and makes schools better,” said former Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes, chair of the NBPTS Board of Directors. “National Board Certified Teachers are leading the way in preparing America’s diverse student population with the skills it needs to compete in the 21st century.”
National Board Certified Teachers consistently receive top teaching honors while representing less than two percent of the nation’s teaching population. For example: • Four of the last seven National Teacher of the Year recipients were NBCTs. • The last three State Teacher of the Year recipients were NBCTs. • Nearly one-third of the recipients of the 2006 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching were NBCTs. • Over half of Oklahoma’s school districts have an NBCT.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 700 local school districts recognize National Board Certification as a mark of distinction and excellence. These municipalities provide valuable incentives to keep our most accomplished teachers in the classroom.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2007, NBPTS continues to be the most thoroughly grounded, in research terms, of any assessment program in the teaching profession. “The vast majority of research indicates that National Board Certified Teachers make a significantly measurable impact on teacher performance as well as student learning, engagement and achievement,” said Aguerrebere. “Teachers who earn this advanced teaching credential have proven that they know their subject matter and can successfully teach it.”
For more information about NBPTS and National Board Certification, visit the NBPTS Web site at www.nbpts.org or the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation website at www.octp.org.
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About NBPTSCreated by educators and policymakers in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and nongovernmental organization. NBPTS advances the quality of teaching and learning by developing professional standards for accomplished teaching; creating and administering National Board Certification, a voluntary system to certify teachers who meet those standards; and integrating certified teachers into educational reform efforts. Today, more than 60,000 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) are making a positive difference in the lives of students across the nation.
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