ADVANCES IN PROGRAM EVALUATION VOL.11 - ASSESSING TEACHERS FOR PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION

Nothing is as fundamental to the quality of a school system as the quality of its teachers. For this reason many countries are seeking policies that meet the challenge of promoting quality teaching.The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in the USA is the most ambitious and successful attempt by any country to establish a certification system for recognizing and rewarding teachers who reach high professional standards. Established in 1987, the Boards mission has been driven by a simple principle; to place more value on accomplished teaching, we must learn how to evaluate teacher performance in ways that are valid, reliable and fair. By late 2007, over 60,000 teachers had become National Board Certified Teachers.As other countries place increasing importance on policies designed to attract, develop, and retain effective teachers there is growing interest in the extensive research and development work that has underpinned the Boards certification system and guided its implementation. The main purpose of this book is to bring together, for international as well as non-specialist audiences, papers written by the key researchers involved in the development of National Board assessments between 1987 and 1997.One of the many reasons why the Boards work is note worthy is the extent to which, at every stage of development, it has subjected its standards and certification process to critique by leading figures in educational measurement, as the chapters in this volume illustrate.