California Teachers' Perceptions of National Board Certification
The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning
March 2002
The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning has surveyed California teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and issued a new report with a heavily spun subtitle: " Individual Benefits Substantial, System Benefits Yet to Be Realized." A more accurate representation of the findings is found in the report's executive summary, which says, "[Certification] is more valued for its intangible benefits than in helping teachers acquire new skills they can use in their daily work." If there's anything to be learned from this survey, it is in comparing different facets of the National Board program. Teachers give relatively high marks to the process for increasing their confidence and helping them work with colleagues. Half say it improved their teaching ability, but few report that it helped them work with parents and utilize community resources. To read the report, http://www.cftl.org/documents/Beldenreport2002.pdf. For a critique of the NBPTS process, check out "The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: Can It Live Up to Its Promise?" by Danielle Wilcox (see http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=15#48), part of the 1999 Fordham Foundation report, "Better Teachers, Better Schools" (available in its entirety at http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=15).
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