Do Students Learn More
from National Board Certified Teachers?
Utilizing
a sophisticated model built from 600,000 North Carolina elementary
student test scores during a 3-year period, an independent
research team has found that National Board Certified Teachers
(NBCTs) are far more likely to improve student achievement
as measured by the state's highly touted standardized testing
system. The research team, led by labor economist Dan Goldhaber
of the University of Washington and the Urban Institute,
has noted that these findings “provide
direct evidence that the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards (NBPTS) is identifying and certifying teachers who
will raise student achievement” and they “could
put to rest some of the controversy in education circles surrounding
the national certification.” In particular, the study
concluded that National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs): Are
more effective at raising student achievement than teachers
who pursue, but fail to obtain, NBPTS certification; are
more effective at raising student achievement—outside
of the year in which they apply—than teachers who do
not pursue NBPTS certification; have a greater impact with
younger students; have a greater impact with low-income students.
Students of NBCTs improved an average of seven
percent more on their year-end math and reading tests than
students whose teachers attempted but did not earn certification.
The influence of NBCTs was most pronounced for younger and
lower-income students whose gains were as high as 15 percent
more when taught by NBCTs. This is the first large-scale study
using standardized tests to link NBCTs and student achievement,
and study results confirm that the NBPTS assessment process
identifies teachers who systematically produce larger achievement
gains.#
For a more complete analysis of the study, see
www.teachingquality.org