ISU was among the top 20 undergraduate institutions in the nation to award education graduates with National Board Certification.

In 2011, ISU placed 12th in the nation with 58 graduates earning certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This year, 6,200 new board certified teachers were introduced, bringing the total number of teachers with NBC to nearly 100,000.

“[NBC] is highly recognized and is the top certificate for the accomplished teacher. We’ve been certifying teachers since the mid-90s, and it has taken years to build our assessment,” Ella Cleveland, NBPTS program associate, said.

Applicants had to submit four portfolio entries that included videos of student work as well as accomplishments outside of the classroom and had to complete six assessment center exercises to demonstrate content knowledge of the applicant’s chosen area of certification.

Upon the completion of portfolio entries and assessment exercises, applicants’ work is then judged by no less than 12 teachers who have been qualified for scoring based on their understanding of NBPTS standards, according to the website.

The first part of the AAT is for teachers to know their students and their students’ needs. Teachers then must set high and worthwhile goals that satisfy the students’ needs, implement instruction to attain these goals, evaluate student learning in light of these goals, reflect on student learning and the effectiveness of instructional design and, finally, set higher goals that are appropriate to students at this time, according to the website.

In addition, there are five core propositions as part of the AAT. Teachers must be committed to students and learning, know their subjects and how to teach them to students, be responsible for managing and monitoring student learning, think systematically about their practice and learn from experience and be members of learning communities, the site states.

NBPTS is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been operating for 25 years. According to the NBPTS website, their goal was to advance the quality of teaching and learning by developing professional standards for accomplished teaching, creating a voluntary system to certify teachers who meet those standards and integrating certified teachers into educational reform efforts.

The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana also placed in the top 20 schools with 48 students receiving National Board Certification. Northern Illinois University placed in the top 50 schools having 29 graduates being certified.