The New National Boards for Music Educators
Nationally, there are more than 112,000 teachers in all 50 states, including Washington,
D.C. who have attained the highest standard of teacher certification; National Board Certification. According to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards website (
www.nbpts.org): Alabama has 2,339 teachers who are currently National Board certified, and that number continues to rise yearly. Of that 2,339 only 54 music educators are currently certified. To say that Alabama music educators are underrepresented, would be an understatement.
“Within the United States and across nations, there seems to be consensus that teacher quality is the most important school-based variable in determining how well a child learns” (Thorpe, 2014, p. 1). This statement, and others like it, became a catalyst for school reform, specifically, in the area of teacher certification. Public unrest in public and private schools in America became a national issue. In April of 1981, the United States Secretary of Education T.H. Bell, created a commission to examine the practices of public and private schools, as well as colleges and universities (Gardner, 1983). One of the many goals of this commission was to assess the quality of teaching and learning. The commission published a report titled A Nation at Risk, which forced educators to explore ways to raise the quality of teacher preparedness and quality in America. In direct response to A Nation at Risk, a subsequent report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century, was published by the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching as a Profession in April 1986 (Carnegie Commission, 1986). A Nation Prepared called for a restructuring of standards and a strengthening of education profession. From this report, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards were suggested and formed in 1987. The National Board consists of teachers, administrators governmental officials and business leaders.
The Five Core Propositions
The foundation for all of the National Board standards are based on five core propositions which were established in its 1989 publication What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do:
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Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
According to the National Board website (www.nbpts), accomplished teachers believe that all students can learn and they provide opportunities for students to be successful consumers of knowledge. Accomplished teachers celebrate diversity among students and use their diverse classrooms to adjust their practice to ensure all students are learning at an appropriate pace. Accomplished teachers also know the students they teach and how they learn. They ignite a passion for learning and uplift students.
Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
Accomplished teachers have deep
understanding of the subject(s) they teach. They also possess the appropriate pedagogy skills necessary to convey knowledge to their students. Accomplished teachers generate multiple paths to knowledge understanding what students should know and how to get them where they need to be.
Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
Accomplished teachers maintain the instructional flow of their classrooms and fully engage and enrich students. They motivate individual, as well as, groups of students to work collaboratively to accomplish tasks. They also know how to assess the progress of students, utilizing multiple avenues of assessment, and how to report the students’ progress to the student, their parent and the administrator.
Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
Accomplished teachers demonstrate, through their own lives, the discipline, determination, curiosity, respect for diversity and honesty it takes to be a life-long learner. They model taking risks and explore their creative sides to solve problems providing examples for their students. In an effort to strengthen their own
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by Phil Wilson
Alabama has 2,339 teachers who are currently National Board certified, and that number continues to rise yearly. Of that 2,339 only 54 music educators are currently certified.
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