Dan Goldhaber and Emily Anthony, Center on Reinventing Public Education
March 2004
Dan Goldhaber and Emily Anthony have just released the first serious study that appears to find that teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) are more effective than those who are not. This is a significant event for those (myself included) who have insisted that such evidence is needed before U.S. schools and states should embrace the National Board. As the authors summarize their findings, "NBPTS-certified teachers, based on student achievement gains, appear to be more effective than their non-certified counterparts and . . . NBPTS is successfully identifying the more effective teachers among NBPTS applicants."
So far, so good. (You knew a "however" was coming.) However, the numbers and regressions need to be rechecked by other experts. And everyone should know that this pioneer study is quite limited - limited to North Carolina in the late 1990s, for starters, and to students in (and teachers of) grades 3, 4, and 5. Many of the student gains associated with NBPTS-certified teachers are small and some aren't statistically significant. (It depends on grade levels and student characteristics.) More important, going through the NBPTS process and becoming certified does not make teachers more effective; it simply identifies those who are already more effective. As a public investment, therefore, NBPTS only makes sense if the costs associated with it result in those effective teachers remaining in the classroom longer than they otherwise would. It's also important to note that, during the application year, some teachers become less effective: those who become certified are no more effective that year than non-applicants, while unsuccessful applicants lose effectiveness during that year. Hence having lots of teachers seek NBPTS certification could prove counterproductive in terms of student achievement and the cost of conferring bonuses on those who succeed may or may not be warranted.
Still, it's an important study that you should be aware of. Read more at http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/2004archive/03-04archive/k030804a.html.
