National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) expanded its work providing advanced credentials for “master teachers” by creating an advanced principal certificate, National Board Certification for Educational Leaders (NBCEL). This advanced principal certificate was intended to provide CPS and districts nationwide with a standard measure for defining and identifying “master” leaders who can organize their schools and staffs around sustained gains in student achievement. NBPTS conducted a two-year feasibility study to investigate the need and interest for the certificate, and it secured financial support from multiple educational organizations and associations, in addition to key stakeholders at the local, state and federal levels. NBPTS spent two years developing core propositions and standards central to the NBCEL, in addition to vast market research. In the final certification design phase, NBPTS developed assessments tied to student learning and field-tested the certificate in multiple pilot sites, including Chicago Public Schools. In 2014, NBPTS decided to terminate the principal certification program, following high attrition rates in both the field test and pilot programs.