Alignment
Standards
NCATE, INTASC, and the NBPTS standards
The great promise of the National Board is that it clearly delineates standards for accomplished teaching and creates the prospect for a career continuum from entry to expert practice. (The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. 1996. What matters most: Teaching for America’s future. New York: Author)
Three agencies have worked together to create a compatible set of performance-based standards that span the teaching career:
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], as the accrediting agency for teacher education institutions, developed a set of accreditation standards (currently in transition) for colleges of education. According to NCATE, the six standards "emphasize prospective teacher performance in the context of solid preparation in professional and liberal arts studies."
The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium [INTASC], a consortium of state education agencies, higher education institutions, and national educational organizations, is creating a set of model performance-based licensing standards for new teacher licensing. According to INTASC, these standards "represent those principles which should be present in all teaching regardless of the subject or grade level taught and serve as a framework for the systemic reform of teacher preparation and professional development."
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards [NBPTS] has established high and rigorous standards for accomplished teaching based on the National Board's central policy statement, What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do, which explains the National Board's Five Propositions of Accomplished Teaching. The subject-area standards are available for download or for purchase.
Both NCATE and INTASC worked to align their standards with the National Board Teaching Standards. The standards developed by these three organizations create a common professional vision for what teachers should know and be able to do at the various stages of their professional development.