Data Mining -> Staff Factors -> Does National Certification of Teachers Make a Difference

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 results from recent research that assessed the validity of NBPTS certification in identifying those teachers with the largest estimated impacts on student achievement.  (Goldhaber and Anthony (2004), Cavaluzzo (2006), Vandevoort et. al. (2004), Clotfelter, Ladd and Vigdor (2006), Sanders, Ashton and Wright (2005) and Harris and Sass (2006)).   Such research has generally found differences in student achievement impacts of .05 to .10 standard deviations between certified teachers and unsuccessful applicants. (Data displayed in the above graph)

Implications: The implications are that as the NBPTS certification is currently designed, it is not an effective indicator of teacher competence, has a minimal impact on improving teacher performance, and is not likely to contribute to significant gains in student achievement.

Authors: Steve Cantrell, Jon Fullerton, Thomas J. Kane, and Douglas O. Staiger

Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research. 2008

Study Description: The paper examined whether the scores issued by the NBPTS are related to teacher impacts on student achievement. This was accomplished through a review of the literature looking at the performance of NBPTS certified teachers and the impact certification plays in improving student achievement. The literature review provided a summary of the effect sizes for six studies of NBPT certification between 2004 through 2006.

Additionally, they conducted a randomized controlled study. The study compared to the academic achievement of elementary students in Los Angeles randomly assigned to NBPTS applicants and to comparison teachers. The randomized trial used each applicant certification, along with applicant's NBPTS scaled score and sub-scores, to test whether the NBPTS score was related to teacher impacts on student achievement. The authors compared the test scores of students assigned to NBPTS certified teachers and teachers who failed to receive NBPTS certification to those of students assigned to comparison teachers. The study was reviewed by What Works Clearinghouse and was found to be consistent with their standards as a well implemented randomized controlled trial study. Unfortunately, they did provide easily comparable effect sizes for their own study that could be included in the above data mining graph.

Definitions: NBPTS Certification

• To acquire National Board Certification a teacher must meet the following criteria:
  1. Teachers must have taught for at least three years
  2. Teachers must submit a teaching portfolio that includes video recording of classroom teaching, and
  3. Teacher must successfully respond to essay questions to assess pedagogical knowledge
• Unsuccessful applicants may retake any portfolio entries or essays; about two-thirds of applicants eventually meet certification requirements
• Process can take from three months to several years to complete

Citation: National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org/cgi-bin/get_bars.pl?bar=pub