Dan Goldhaber, The University of Washington
March 2003
Dan Goldhaber of the University of Washington, joined by David Perry and Emily Anthony of the Urban Institute, have taken a close look at North Carolina teachers who apply to--and are certified by--the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). On the whole, they find, teachers seeking NBPTS credentials tend to be female, black, young and relatively high scorers on standardized tests. But they also find that black and male applicants are less likely to succeed. Indeed, while "African-American teachers make up approximately the same percentage in the NBPTS applicant pool as in the teaching workforce as a whole&they are grossly underrepresented in North Carolina's share of National Board teachers&.We also find that, all else equal, male teachers are significantly less likely to both apply for and be NBPTS certified than female teachers." Moreover, "teachers are more likely to be certified if they are teaching in more affluent schools and districts with high achieving students." There's more--and at least some of it should worry acolytes and leaders of the National Board. You can find this paper at http://www.evansuw.org/FAC/Goldhaber/pdf/NBPTS_A-S.pdf.
