Setting the Standard | Professional Development

a teacher at work
Setting the Standard

Just as the standards movement has defined what students should know and be able to do, a national effort is underway to distill the essence of good teaching. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), established in 1987, has developed a rigorous process to encourage teachers to look critically at their own performance and determine what they can do to be better at their job. National Board certification, the gold standard of teaching credentials, takes several months and requires applicants to take exams and submit a portfolio of videotapes, lesson samples, journals, essays, and other documentation of classroom and collegial work.

Although voluntary national certification has earned praise from Secretary of Education Richard Riley and President Clinton, among others, states have responded with varying degrees of support. Some states pay all or part of the $2,000 application fee, or reward certified teachers with bonuses or permanent salary increases. Others offer no incentives.

Even states where teachers have been slow to pursue national certification can benefit from the work that the National Board has done to define good teaching. These five essential ingredients of good teaching that NBPTS has identified support the link between professional development and student success:

Teachers are committed to students and their learning. They make knowledge accessible to all students by adjusting their teaching to student abilities, skills, and backgrounds.
Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students. They are aware of students' prior knowledge and preconceptions and can create multiple ways of acquiring knowledge.
Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. They draw upon a variety of instructional strategies and know how to engage students in learning; they use multiple ways of measuring student growth.
Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience. They evaluate their teaching, seek advice from others, and integrate research into their practice.
Teachers are members of learning communities. They work collaboratively with colleagues and with parents and use school and community resources for their students.

An Alaska teacher uses the hallway outside her classroom to display student projects and, she hopes, pique her colleagues' curiosity. "Everyone doesn't have time to attend workshops and find out how to do multimedia projects," she admits, "but I'm so eager to share what I've learned. I get excited when another teacher asks if our classes can do a big project together. It usually winds up better than what either of us could do alone."

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