by AFT President Sandra Feldman
March 2000

National Board
certification is a
clear standard
of teaching excellence.

The coming teacher shortage is bringing renewed attention to the importance of excellent teaching. Some good ideas for attracting and keeping high-quality teachers have been floated, including the commonsense notion of paying teachers competitive salaries. But this being a political season, the idea of merit pay has also come up again. Although merit pay sounds plausible, it has been tried in many school districts over the years, and it has always failed, largely because traditional merit pay plans lack objective criteria.

That doesn't mean, of course, that great teaching shouldn't be rewarded financially or that rewards can't be handed out in a fair and rational way. Some districts are working to establish merit pay that really recognizes merit--with the involvement and support of teachers--through programs that identify master teachers or lead teachers and pay them significant salary differentials to work with their colleagues in a variety of ways.

Board-Certified Teachers

But there is a way for individual teachers from any school in the country to gain recognition of their excellence: board certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. NBPTS is an independent, nonprofit group that enjoys bipartisan support from Congress. It sets standards for excellence in teaching and is comparable to the boards that certify doctors in their areas of specialization.

Board certification is not to be confused with the state requirements teachers must satisfy before they are licensed to teach. It is a voluntary process for experienced teachers, and success is based on meeting high and objective criteria for classroom performance. The certification process consists of creating a professional portfolio--which includes lesson plans, student work, and classroom videos--performing a series of exercises designed to probe teaching skills, and passing a subject-matter exam. Any teacher who gets through all this with flying colors has met an extraordinarily high standard of professional excellence. Even those who do not pass the first time often say the certification process itself has made them better teachers.

The program gives schools and school districts an objective standard for identifying outstanding teachers who can serve as important resources in many different ways--including mentoring new teachers and helping other colleagues who need to sharpen their teaching skills. It also provides a sound basis for rewarding teachers for their merit.

Incentives for Excellence

Board certification is still relatively new--the first certificates were awarded in 1995. But the idea is beginning to catch on. NBPTS now offers certification in fields covering more than 80 percent of teachers. In November 1999, nearly 3,000 teachers received board certification, and 10,000 more have submitted their applications for the next round.

Many states and districts recognize that when teachers demonstrate this kind of merit, additional pay and other incentives are called for. Teacher unions agree. and a number of AFT locals have bargained contracts that include extra pay for board-certified teachers. In California, teachers who successfully complete the certification process get a $10,000 bonus, and the governor has proposed that, if board-certified teachers agree to work in underperforming schools, they will get an additional $20,000. North Carolina pays the entire $2000 application fee for teachers who complete the National Board process, and it gives a 12 percent increase in the state's portion of salaries paid to teachers who win board certification. With incentives like these, it's no wonder that 25 percent of teachers who now hold board certification are from North Carolina. All states and school districts should provide this kind of support.

Board certification is one of a number of paths we need to pursue in order to guarantee that every student has access to high-quality teaching. It is not a substitute for reforming teacher education--or for the across-the-board raises that would help make teaching more competitive with other professions. But it is a way to recognize a high level of competence and thus keep good teachers in the profession and in the classroom. It is a basis for merit pay that truly recognizes merit. And if the National Board meets the goal of 105,000 board-certified teachers in our schools by 2006, we will have a cadre of exemplary educators that can help us transform teaching and learning in our schools.