Recent Studies Pertaining to NBPTS Certification

http://www.caldercenter.org/PDF/1001060_NBPTS_Certified.pdf  [released March 2007]
An NBPTS-sponsored study of learning outcomes for all Florida teachers over a 4 year span.  Found limited evidence favoring NBPTS-certified teachers but concludes that the "efficacy of NBPTS as a tool to improve student learning appears questionable."  [Harris, D. N. & Sass, T. R.  (2007, January 25).  The effects of NBPTS-certified teachers on student achievement.  Working Paper No. 4, Urban Institute, Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Educational Research.]

http://www.scgovernor.com/uploads/upload/ExecutiveBudget07.pdf [released January 3, 2007]
South Carolina Governor Mark Stanford's budget message cites the lack of supporting evidence and $63.17 million/year projected cost as the basis for discontinuation of bonuses for NBPTS teachers newly certified after June 30, 2007 (see page 99).

http://www.education-consumers.com/articles/W-M%20NBPTS%20certified%20report.pdf
[released December 22, 06] A $330,000 study sponsored by NBPTS found no advantage in achievement gains for NBPTS-certified teachers in North Carolina. Press release.  [McColskey, W., Stronge, J. H., et al.  (2006, June).  Teacher Effectiveness, Student Achievement,& National Board Certified Teachers, Williamsburg, VA:  College of William and Mary.]

http://www.nbpts.org/UserFiles/File/SAS_final_report_Sanders.pdf [released May 24, 2006]
A large scale NBPTS-sponsored study commissioned in 2002 but released only after a May 17, 2006 investigative report in Education Week (requires subscription).  Found only average achievement gains associated with NBPTS certification. [Sanders, W. L., Ashton, J. J. & Wright, S.P.  (2005, March 7).  Comparison of the Effects of NBPTS Certified Teachers with Other Teachers on the Rate Of Student Academic Progress.  Arlington, VA: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.]

http://www.education-consumers.com/articles/South%20Carolina%20NBPTS%20report.pdf
[released November 20, 2005]  Study commissioned by South Carolina legislature found achievement gains associated with NBPTS-certification little different than average.  [Fisher, S. & Dickenson, T.  (2005, November 11).  A Study of the Relationship Between the National Board Certification Status of Teachers and Students Achievement, Columbia, SC: Office of Program Evaluation, College of Education, University of South Carolina.] 

http://www.education-consumers.com/Cunningham-Stone.pdf
A review and critical analysis of 4 studies that examined the link between NBPTS-certification and student achievement gain.  Found that reports of statistically significant gains were misleading.   Concludes that effective teaching is far more accurately identified on the basis of value-added achievement gains alone.  [Cunningham, G. K. & Stone, J. E. (2005). Value-added assessment of teacher quality as an alternative to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: What recent studies say. In Robert Lissitz (Ed.). Value added models in education: Theory and applications. Maple Grove, MN: JAM Press. ]

http://www.cna.org/documents/CavaluzzoStudy.pdf [released November 2, 2004]
Study of 61 NBPTS-certified teachers in the Miami-Dade school system found a statistically significant 1.25 point score difference favoring the NBPTS group on the FCAT exam.  [Cavalluzzo, L. (2004, November). Is National Board certification an effective signal of teacher quality? CNA Corporation.]

http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n46/v12n46.pdf [released September 8, 2004]
Study drawn from a doctoral dissertation. Found that NBPTS-certified teachers were more effective by a statistically significant amount in only 11 of 48 comparisons.  [Vandevoort, L., Amrein-Beardsley, A., and Berliner, D. (2004, September 8). National Board certified teachers and their students achievement. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12, (46).]

http://www.crpe.org/workingpapers/pdf/NBPTSquality_report.pdf [released April 27, 2004]
Large scale study in North Carolina found very small but statistically significant differences favoring NBPTS-Certified teachers.  [Goldhaber, D. and Anthony, E. (2004, April 27). Can teacher quality be effectively assessed? Urban Institute.]

http://www.education-consumers.com/briefs/May2002.asp [released May 5, 2002]
Found that 16 out of 16 NBPTS-certified teachers in Tennessee produced only average value-added student achievement gains.  A scholarly panel commissioned by the Education Commission of the States and headed by Susan Fuhrman, President of Teachers College, Columbia University reviewed the findings and urged that they be disregarded.  [Stone, J. E. (2002, May 1). The value-added achievement gains of NBPTS-certified teachers in Tennessee: A brief report. College of Education, East Tennessee State University.]