Secondary National Board Candidates and Attitudes Toward Assessment: A Qualitative Study

• Main Author: Vincent Aleccia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Portland State University 2009-01-01
• Series: Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
• Online Access: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29813

This study investigated the impact that National Board certification had on the assessment practice of secondary candidates in Eastern Washington. The study was framed by three research questions: (a) To what extent do National Board candidates think about the place of assessment in their classroom practice before they begin the process? (b) Does the National Board certification process impact their beliefs about assessment so that they see assessment in a different light by the time they complete the process? (c) Do teachers who have undergone the National Board certification process change the type of assessments used in their classroom practice as a result of going through the process? The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six candidates in September 2007 and June 2008, before and after the certification process, and then coded and analyzed the results. All six participants revealed they had an idea about the place of assessment in their classroom practice before the process. Five of the six indicated that the process caused them to see assessment from a different perspective by the end of the year. Finally, five of the six indicated their classroom assessment practice had changed as a result of the National Board certification process.