North Carolina

Professional Teaching Standards

Commission

"For every student in North Carolina,

a knowledgeable, skilled compassionate teacher...

a star in every classroom"

We believe:

• The quality of teachers is the single most important factor in achieving quality schools. No innovation or effective school reform can take place if teachers are not equipped, prepared, and eager to implement change.
• Setting high standards for teachers is a collaborative effort involving, among others, parents, schools of education, the business community, policy makers, and administrators. The primary responsibility for setting high standards, however, resides within the teaching profession. The profession of teaching must join the ranks of medicine, law, and architecture, and accept the responsibility for establishing and maintaining professional quality. 
• A single expert teacher or a few, teachers in a school can not, on their own, provide the education North Carolina's children need and deserve. To effectively educate our children, all of our schools must be communities of highly accomplished professionals. Teachers, for this reason, have a great interest in the quality of their colleagues.
• Standards for teaching are dynamic not static. What was required of teachers and teaching 20 years ago is no longer sufficient. As society changes and evolves, the job of preparing students to thrive in that society changes as well. Standards for teaching must be constantly examined and revised.
• To have the greatest impact on the education of North Carolina's children, increasing the standards for entering and continuing in the teaching profession must go hand in hand with improving the salaries and working conditions of teachers.