U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced the award of $5 million over two years to the National Council on Teacher Quality to launch the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE).

In order to build a supply of more well-qualified teachers for our nation's classrooms, the project will create a high standard of excellence for teachers from non-traditional backgrounds that will allow those teachers a high level of portability and credibility within our education system. Consistent with President Bush's focus on improving achievement among all children, the National Council on Teacher Quality will also develop a system to recognize master teachers who demonstrate superior academic content knowledge and document improved student learning in their classrooms. These master teachers would serve as mentors and models for other teachers.

"To improve the quality of the education we offer America's students, we need to put more well-qualified teachers in America's classrooms," Paige said. "We hope this initiative will encourage professionals from other careers and bright liberal arts students to enter the teaching field and stay there."

With its recruitment and assessment centers, the ABCTE will draw from the large pool of skilled professionals who have the interest and ability to become teachers but who don't have the traditional teacher training and education. From the beginning, the ABCTE will contract with an outside evaluator to monitor the process and track the classroom performance of individuals who are certified, creating a research database on what works in teacher preparation.

At the end of the two-year project, the ABCTE will implement two levels of certification in teaching. The Passport System for New Teachers will provide aspiring new teachers a passport, usable anywhere in the nation. This certification will attest to their mastery of particular subjects and their grasp of professional skills needed for classroom effectiveness.

There will also be the Master Teacher Certification, which will show that teachers have documented that they have significantly increased student achievement and have exceptional proficiency in certain subjects, as well as a firm grasp of the basics of professional teaching skills.

The National Council on Teacher Quality is a nonprofit organization working to bridge the gap between research and policy on teacher issues. Its partner in this project is the Education Leaders Council, an organization that provides a national voice for reform-minded state education leaders.

The grant is from the Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE), under the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. FIE supports activities that stimulate reform and improve teaching and learning.