National Board Certification: A Career Imprint That Transfers to Teacher Leadership Roles

Abstract

Since its inception in 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has certified over 112,000 accomplished teachers in its effort to professionalize teaching. During this same period, districts have added teacher leadership positions to improve the instructional practice of teachers and meet the complex needs of students, something the Board envisioned for National Board Certified Teachers (Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, 1986). However, there is a lack of research about if and how NBCTs holding formal teacher leadership roles utilize their expertise to improve instruction among their peers. This qualitative study sought to examine this issue through semi-structured interviews with forty-three teacher leaders who are National Board Certified Teachers in four public school districts and one state context.

In this dissertation, I make the case that National Board Certification served as a career imprint (Higgins, 2005) that National Board Certified Teachers subsequently transferred to their work as teacher leaders and encouraged in their peers. The imprint consisted of capabilities in knowing one’s students, constructivist and differentiated instruction, and observing, describing, and reflecting continuously on instructional practice The cognitive aspects of the imprint included a belief that understanding one’s students was central to instruction, a commitment to assuming internal responsibility for student learning, and an assumption that reflecting continuously on their instruction would lead to improved teaching and learning. The participants indicated that, although National Board Certification prepared them as excellent teachers, they still needed organizational supports to extend what they learned through the process to other teachers. In the absence of some supports, they said that they could not fully transfer the imprint. In a few unique cases, NBCTs reported that they were able to alter the policy context in order to create a more favorable environment for the principles and practices from National Board Certification to take hold among other teachers.

The findings suggest that NBPTS could work collaboratively with other organizations and policymakers to more explicitly advance the principles and practices underlying National Board Certification imprint as well as promote NBCTs as teacher leaders beyond their classrooms. Steps that NBPTS, districts, states, and teacher leaders could take to strengthen the extension of the Board imprint in order to improve instruction and learning in schools are outlined. Avenues for further research are explored.