Press Releases

More than 200 Maryland Teachers Achieve National Board Certification

December 3, 2007

(Arlington, VA, 12/04/2007)—Teaching quality in Maryland classrooms made a substantial gain in 2007 with 229 state teachers achieving National Board Certification, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).

Maryland ranked 11th nationwide in the number of new National Board Certified Teachers® (NBCTs) and ranks 15th in the total number of teachers who achieved certification over time (1,056). Specifically,

• Maryland shows a 42 percent increase in the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification in 2007 over last year. •

Fourteen percent of the state’s NBCTs teach in Title I schools.*

• With 374 NBCTs overall (75 in 2007 alone), Montgomery County ranks among the top 20 school districts in the nation in the number of new and cumulative total NBCTs. • The state’s top five school districts in terms of the cumulative total of NBCTs are: Montgomery County (374), Anne Arundel County (124), Baltimore County (77), Prince George’s County (73) and Carroll County (50).

NOTE: All NBPTS data are derived from information reported to NBPTS by National Board Certified Teachers and candidates as part of the certification process. *This percentage is based on teachers whose schools could be identified as Title I using NCES criteria.

Maryland 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.

Among evidence that the National Board Certified Teacher movement is growing nationally:

• The number of NBCTs has nearly tripled in the past five years (from 23,930 in 2002 to nearly 64,000 in 2007).

• States with the highest number of teachers achieving National Board Certification in 2007 were: Florida (1,675), North Carolina (1,442), South Carolina (651), Illinois (511) and Washington (484).

• Twenty-five states, including the District of Columbia, had at least a 20 percent increase in the number of 2007 NBCTs over the number of teachers who achieved certification in 2006.

• NBCTs make up at least five percent of the total teaching force in five states. They are: North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida and Delaware.

• From 2004 to 2007, the number of NBCTs who earned their certificates in Literacy: Reading – Language Arts has nearly tripled (324 in 2004 to 970 in 2007).

• One out of every 10 teachers who hold National Board Certification teaches math or science.

 “National Board Certification is the most prestigious credential a teacher can earn. Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review,” said NBPTS President and CEO Joseph A. Aguerrebere. “Research is consistently positive about the impact of National Board Certification on improvements in teacher practice and areas of school improvement critical to raising student achievement.”

 “We all want to create better schools and improve student learning, and we know that the key is better teaching,” 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 needed to compete in the 21st century.”

 “Talented teachers are transforming the learning environments in our schools,” said Janet Knupp, founding president of The Chicago Public Education Fund, a venture philanthropy focused on improving the quality of principals and teachers in Chicago public schools. “Human capital is the biggest lever we can pull to positively impact students, and National Board Certified Teachers are proving their value in classrooms every day.”

 “A school board’s role is to ask, ‘What is the best use of teacher talent in a school system?’ If we are going to employ teachers, we need to use them as resources to bring about the standardization of teaching excellence,” said Anne L. Bryant, executive director, National School Boards Association. “What we have found is that teachers who go through the National Board Certification process become a school district’s best change agents to raise the level of classroom instruction which results in greater student achievement.”

 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, NBCTs 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.

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.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 700 local school districts recognize National Board Certification as a mark of distinction. For more information about NBPTS and National Board Certification, visit the NBPTS Web site at www.nbpts.org.