ATLANTA - Southern Regional Education Board states remain national leaders in
the number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards, and several SREB states are among those showing the largest increases
in teachers earning National Board Certification, a new SREB report shows.
North Carolina leads the nation in the number of nationally certified
teachers with 9,809, followed by Florida with 7,742, and South Carolina with
4,442. National Board Certification requires teachers to spend a year or longer
analyzing their own teaching strengths and weaknesses, and to pass a
certification assessment at the end of the self-evaluation process.
SREB states also saw the numbers of nationally certified teachers continue to
increase in 2004-05, both in states that have traditionally been leaders in
National Board Certification and in states where widespread interest in
Certification has developed more recently. Teachers in SREB states accounted for
three out of four National Board Certificates awarded in 2004-05, the latest
year for which data are available. Nine of the top 12 certificate-earning states
in 2004-05 were SREB states.
North Carolina led the nation in new National Board Certified teachers in
2004-05 with 1,535; Florida was second, followed by South Carolina and Georgia.
Others that saw major increases in the numbers of National Board Certified
teachers included Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Virginia and Kentucky.
For more information on National Board Certification and policy issues
related to this trend, read SREB's latest report on this topic at
www.sreb.org.
Policy experts are available to talk with journalists about this topic.
Please contact SREB Communications.
The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, based in Atlanta, was created
in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and
government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and
economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West
Virginia. Each state is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial
appointees. More information and a wealth of data and policy reports are
available online at www.sreb.org.
