At the core of the National Board Certification process are standards that describe the highest level of teaching in different disciplines and with students at different developmental levels. These standards represent a consensus among accomplished teachers and other education experts about what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
Teachers are members of learning communities. Drafts of the standards are widely reviewed by outstanding teachers and scholars, pertinent associations, and members of the nonteaching public. In all, hundreds of educators are involved in the development of each standards document. Traditionally, teaching standards have applied only to beginning teachers and have used courses taken, degrees earned, and scores on multiple-choice tests as evidence of teachers' knowledge of their fields. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has developed standards that describe teaching at its highest levels by identifying what accomplished teachers in each field should know and be able to do in order to maximize student learning.