title: Teacher quality: a comparison of National Board-certified and non-Board-certified teachers of deaf students.
abstract: THE STUDY was designed to identify specific components of teacher excellence, focusing initially on the characteristics of the small number of teachers of the deaf who are certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), then comparing those with the characteristics of other teachers identified as master teachers by university faculty in teacher preparation in deafness. Classroom observation, written lesson plans, teacher questionnaires on beliefs, and content analysis of interactive electronic focus groups were used to compare the two groups of teachers. Results indicated similarities between Board-certified and non-Board-certified master teachers in regard to teacher behaviors and commitment to well-founded pedagogical principles. Differences were found in classroom priorities and in the greater level of interconnectivity expressed by Board-certified teachers as the result of becoming Board certified. Recommendations are made for preparing teachers of deaf students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, USA. nascheet@valdosta.edu
authors.forename: Nanci A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Scheetz
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D002568:Certification; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D004519:Education, Special; D005178:Faculty / Q000592:standards*; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D013663:Teaching; D014743:Videotape Recording