Composing Standards and Composing Teachers

Abstract

This article considers whether National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification may be as much an evaluation of a teacher’s writing about his or her teaching as it is an evaluation of the teaching itself. The experiences of two NBPTS certification candidates are explored. As a theoretical background, an analysis of writing difficulties in NBPTS portfolio entries is performed. The candidates’ experience with the certification process is then interpreted through that theoretical lens to show how each teacher “composed” her teaching. The article concludes that rhetorical skill is a problematic, unarticulated standard of the board.