The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was created in 1987 for the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy's Task Force on Teaching as a Profession. 

The mission of the NBPTS is to establish high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do, to develop and operate a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet the standards, and to advance related education reforms for the purpose of improving student learning in American schools.  National Board Certification is valid for 10 years. 

There are five core propositions that exemplary teachers practice:

• Teachers are committed to students and their learning;
• Teachers know the subject they teach, and how to teach those subjects to students;
• Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning;
• Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience; and
• Teachers are members of learning communities.

National Board certification is voluntary.  An applicant must "hold a baccalaureate degree, have taught for a minimum of three years with a valid state teaching license or where a license is not required, have taught in a school recognized and approved by the state."  There is also a $2,300 application fee. 

Each applicant will receive a portfolio within approximately 10 days.  The portfolio consists of four areas in which the applicant will describe the planning, teaching and assessment of units taught to students, the commitments to the professional community, and the commitments to the community in which the applicant teaches.  Information on the assessments to be taken during the summer are also included.

Call NBPTS at 1-800-532-1813 to acquire an application and to determine if your teaching field is one of the approximately 40 certificate areas available. You may also visit the NBPTS website.

Additional information is available at the Georgia Professional Standards Commission's Website.

For additional information contact the Professional Learning Center at 770- 473-2795.