Press Releases

New Report Affirms National Board Certification’s Positive Impact on Student Achievement and Learning

June 11, 2008

Arlington, Va. -- The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has had a positive impact on student achievement, teacher retention, and professional development, according to the most rigorous and comprehensive study to date of National Board Certification^®. The long-awaited report, released today by the highly respected National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, affirms many of the positive findings by other research into National Board Certification.

According to the report, NBPTS Standards and National Board Certification have taken the culture of teaching to a higher level by creating national standards for the profession. The report recognizes the potential of National Board Certification to bring benefits to more schools and observes that the National Board’s work needs strong support and coordination by states, districts and schools as well as higher education and other non-governmental groups.

The report, Assessing Accomplished Teaching: Advanced-Level Certification Programs, was produced by the NRC following a request by Congress to develop a framework for evaluating programs that offer advanced-level certification to teachers. NRC began work on the report in 2005 and spent the next 30 months gathering and evaluating information for the final document.

With 8,500 new NBCTs last year – the largest class ever – there are nearly 64,000 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Regarded as some of the most accomplished teachers in the nation, NBCTs are routinely in the ranks of State Teachers of the Year and four of the last eight National Teachers of the Year have been NBCTs. These accomplished teachers make up about two percent of the nation’s teaching force.

The committee found that students taught by NBCTs make higher gains on achievement tests than those taught by teachers who have not applied and those who did not achieve certification. The findings are based on an analysis of the studies that the NRC says meet standards of sound scientific research, including new analyses commissioned by the NRC. According to the report, the “evidence is clear that National Board Certification distinguishes more effective teachers from less effective teachers with respect to student achievement.” The NRC acknowledged research showing that National Board Certification has a positive impact on teacher retention and, based on its analyses, noted that NBCTs are likely to stay in teaching longer than other teachers.

“The NRC further affirms what we have long believed and seen to be true -- National Board Certified Teachers raise student achievement and are committed to improving their schools,” said Joseph A. Aguerrebere, NBPTS president and CEO. “The NRC acknowledges that National Board Certification, which was established to set high standards for teaching and measure teachers against those standards, is having a positive effect. This is news to celebrate.”

Additionally, the report found the National Board Certification process is an effective professional development experience that positively affects teaching practices. This finding is based on self-reported data from teachers and needs to be further corroborated with independent research. The NRC also noted the difficulty of computing the cost-effectiveness of National Board Certification and other teacher quality interventions. However, the committee observed that the costs of National Board Certification are likely lower than, and compare favorably to Master’s degree programs.

Perhaps the most heartening, the NRC acknowledges that NBPTS Standards 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 historical and cultural trends in education.

Report Suggests Ways to Further Strengthen National Board’s Impact
In its thorough and systematic report, the NRC offers guidance on where and how the National Board can strengthen its work in crucial areas, including providing more thorough documentation of its test-development and standards-setting process and incorporating a broader array of evidence to measure student achievement. The NRC also called on the National Board to continue to ramp up its outreach to certify more teachers, particularly in low-performing schools and to ensure that NBCTs are used more broadly as mentors and leaders of change.

For its part, the National Board is bolstering outreach to urban schools and is launching a committee of national experts to study alternative measures of student learning and how it is emphasized in the advanced certification process. NBPTS also is working to ensure that school leaders are better informed about National Board Certification and have opportunities to earn voluntary advanced certification themselves.

The NRC recognizes that the National Board cannot make these changes alone. The success of the movement will require strong incentives, support, and coordination by states, districts and schools as well as higher education and other non-governmental institutions, the report says. “NBPTS should continue to invest in its larger mission of influencing the teaching field in broad, comprehensive ways,” the report adds.

Realizing the full potential of National Board Certification will not happen overnight, the NRC notes. The “revolutionary changes of the kind the board’s founders envisioned would be expected to develop over decades, not years,” the report said.

“Working together, we can provide support for National Board Certified Teachers to become leaders in schools, reach more high-need schools, forge closer relationships with school and district leaders and become agents of positive change,” Aguerrebere said.