Appalachian State University has topped the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ list of “Top 50 Alma Maters by Total Number of NBCTs” for the fourth year in a row with 2,057 alumni having earned the national credential.
Additionally, North Carolina continues to lead the nation in the number of teachers who have become National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) — since 1987, 22,653 educators have earned the certification. In 2019, 710 North Carolina teachers gained the endorsement.
“We are proud to lead the nation’s public and private universities and colleges with the highest number of alumni with the National Board certification credential,” said Dr. Melba Spooner, dean of Appalachian’s Reich College of Education. “Our alumni place an intrinsic value on being leaders in their field.”
“We are proud to lead the nation’s public and private universities and colleges with the highest number of alumni with the National Board certification credential,” said Dr. Melba Spooner, dean of Appalachian’s Reich College of Education. “Our alumni place an intrinsic value on being leaders in their field.”
“We also help lay the foundation for a commitment to life-long learning through an initiative of pairing our nationally board-certified alumni with our pre-service teachers during student teaching, which in turn creates a connection for our alumni to give back to the university and the profession.”
The national certification is based on a rigorous performance-based assessment that typically takes from one to three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers and counselors should know and be able to do.
Nationally, 3,831 teachers earned certification in 2018-2019, raising the total among all states to nearly 126,000. In addition, 4,783 teachers nationally achieved recertification, including 1,421 board-certified teachers in North Carolina.
North Carolina accounts for nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of all teachers nationally who are certified by the teaching standards organization. Nationally certified teachers also account for a larger percentage of the total teaching force in North Carolina than any other state, with more than one of every five having earned the credential.
Nine North Carolina universities and colleges were named among the top 50 schools with the highest number of alumni with the national credential:
- No. 1 — Appalachian State University (2,057 alumni).
- No. 2 — East Carolina University (2,042 alumni).
- No. 4 — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1,362 alumni).
- No. 5 — University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1,334 alumni).
- No. 7 — University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1,198 alumni).
- No. 15 — North Carolina State University (907 alumni).
- No. 19 — Western Carolina University (874 alumni).
- No. 21 — University of North Carolina at Wilmington (837 alumni).
- No. 42 — Meredith College (451 alumni).
Appalachian was founded in 1899 as a teachers college and continues to have one of the largest teacher education programs in North Carolina. School systems in all 100 counties of the state employ at least one graduate of Appalachian’s Reich College of Education.
Additional information about the national certification is available here.
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