Can Teacher Quality Be Effectively Assessed? National Board Certification as a Signal of Effective Teaching

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April 2004
Dan Goldhaber, Emily Anthony

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CRPE Working Paper #2004-6

This paper describes the results of the first large-scale study, based on a unique data set from North Carolina, assessing the relationship between the certification of teachers by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and elementary level student achievement. Our findings indicate that NBPTS is successfully identifying the more effective teachers among applicants, and that NBPTS-certified teachers, prior to becoming certified, were more effective than their non-certified counterparts at increasing student achievement. The statistical significance and magnitude of the “NBPTS effect,” however, differs significantly by grade level and student type.

Additional Information

A version of this report was published in Review of Economics and Statistics, 89(1): 134-150. (2007).