| National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, founded in 1987, serves as a clearinghouse for National Board Teacher Certification whereby individuals must demonstrate competence and professional teaching excellence through a two-part process. Accordingly, this particular advanced level of teacher certification has perpetuated the perception that increased knowledge and skill in teaching, recognized by this type of certification, may create a higher trained, better equipped workforce to meet the needs of the students which may ultimately increase student achievement and academic performance. The debate over the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards movement to improve the quality of the teaching work force suggests that this higher set of standards for teachers may impact the student achievement of youngsters across the nation.;Seventy-two National Board Certified Teachers and non-National Board Certified Teachers from one Local Educational Agency in eastern North Carolina participated in the study. In the K--8 grade levels, 27 National Board Certified Teachers and 27 non-National Board Certified Teachers participated. In the 9--12 grade levels, nine National Board Certified Teachers and nine non-National Board Certified Teachers participated. A matched-pair design was used along with a correlated samples t-test with an a priori of .05 to analyze the achievement level scores of the students. A statistically significant difference did not exist in student achievement for National Board Certified Teachers and non-National Board Certified Teachers at the K--8 grade levels. Yet, the opposite was found at the secondary level. |
