A Preliminary Investigation of Why Few Special Educators Are Nationally Board Certified

Abstract

In 2006, special education teachers made up 12% of the educational workforce but only 7% of National Board Certified teachers. In contrast, general education teachers made up 88% of the educational workforce and 93% of National Board Certified teachers. This study surveyed a sample of special education teachers who successfully completed certification as Exceptional Needs Specialists through the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. This investigation focused on the Portfolio section of the National Board Certification process to determine if specific questions were difficult for special education teachers to understand and thus prevented them from performing satisfactorily. The sample included teachers from Wyoming, a state that has recently begun to focus on the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards process, and teachers from North Carolina, one of the first states to promote the process. The data suggested that the wording of three of the questions in the first entry of the portfolio was unclear to the candidates and was responsible in part for their unsatisfactory performance. Implications for future research and construction of National Board assessments are discussed.