Improving teachers’ assessment practices through professional development: The case of National Board Certification

Sato, M., Wei, R., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Improving teachers’ assessment practices through professional development: The case of National Board Certification. American Educational Research Journal, 45(3), 669-700.

National Board Certification seems to have a positive effect on the improvement of teachers’ classroom assessment practices, according to this study. The researchers followed two groups of teachers over three years. Both groups were middle school and secondary math and science teachers. The “treatment” group included nine teachers who went through the National Board Certification process during the “middle” year of the three-year study. The “control” groups included seven teachers who did not pursue National Board Certification during the three-year period. Multiple types of data were gathered through observation, videotaping, surveys, written responses, and interviews, along with teaching artifacts.

The “treatment” groups showed more improvement than the “control” group, but there was not true control here, because some teachers in the “control” group experienced high-quality professional development that affected practice, and the process of participating in the study itself served as an impetus for change.