Does National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification make a difference in the achievement of students?
Why is the question important? Research indicates that teachers are a critical variable in improving student performance. NBPTS is offered as a method that improves teaching and student learning. Certification requires hours of effort for teachers to meet NBPTS standards and school districts are allocating scarce resources in the form of performance compensation to teachers who acquire NBPTS certification. If certification does not improve student achievement, should teachers and schools redirect valuable time and dollars in pursuit of methods that more effectively produce results? See further discussion below. Source: National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness: Evidence from A Randomized Assigned Experiment, December 2008 Results: The study found no statistically significant differences between the math and language arts test scores of students assigned to NBPTS-certified teachers and those assigned to teachers who did not apply for NBPTS certification. The also provided r
