A new study investigating the impact of professional development workshops focused on equipping cooperating teachers to support teacher candidates on the edTPA finds that National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) were the most effective at providing feedback to teacher candidates preparing for the edTPA.
Published in the Journal of Teacher Education, the report entitled “Investigating the impact of edTPA professional development on classroom practice and student teaching experience” found that National Board Certified Teachers who were cooperating teachers “were able to give substantive feedback to their candidates, and their responses to the interview questions indicated a deep understanding of the demands of the edTPA project and the importance of reflection.” (p. 109).
The impact of National Board certification was not the driving research question. However, researchers Kissau, Hart and Algozzine concluded that, “National Board Certified Teachers were able to offer the highest quality feedback, suggesting that teacher preparation programs may wish to deliberately request National Board Certified Teachers as mentors whenever possible.”
“Deep reflection is at the core of National Board certification. Day in and day out, National Board Certified Teachers teach to the standards of accomplished teaching. These are top-notch educators and leaders of the profession. I’m gratified but not surprised with the researchers’ findings,” said Peggy Brookins, NBCT, president and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.