| The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was established in 1987 to create national teaching standards and a national certification process for experienced teachers. Subsequently, participation among teachers in the United States has grown rapidly, indicating that the Board has succeeded in capturing the imagination of many stakeholder groups in education. There has also been some criticism of the Board, including concerns about a lack of empirical evidence supporting national certification of teachers.; To address this problem, the researcher explored teaching-related attitudes of 836 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) compared with attitudes of a national sample of 1,089 teachers not certified by the Board (Non-NBCTs). A total of 1,925 teachers participated in the study, including 91% of all NBCTs certified at the time of the study. Six Likert-type scales were used to measure attitude characteristics associated by previous research with effective teaching or related behaviors. The methods of analysis included logistic regression models predicting which participants were NBCTs and which were not. Demographic findings and participant comments were also reported.; Five of the six hypotheses were supported. NBCTs in the study had significantly higher career commitment, professional orientation, internal efficacy, cooperation, and job satisfaction. However, no difference in organizational commitment was found. The characteristic that most distinguished NBCTs was their lower average level of external efficacy: the belief that conditions external to schools largely determine educational outcomes of schooling. NBCTs were much more likely to believe that they could find a way to teach each student successfully, regardless of home environment or other external conditions. Logistic regression models predicted group membership with 74%–81% accuracy.; The typical NBCT was a 46-year-old female teacher, who had a master's degree plus 18 graduate credits, 18 years of experience, and tenure in a suburban or urban elementary school. The results showed that, compared to Non-NBCTs, NBCTs were likely to be accomplished people, with a stronger sense of classroom responsibility, efficacy, career commitment, professionalism, and collegiality. To the extent that these characteristics can promote desired educational outcomes, NBCTs could be expected to offer school systems substantial benefits. |
