A key and growing role for Ohio’s National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) is in the arena of recommending policy to improve the quality of education in our schools. The role in influencing policy may be different from the one perceived by many NBCTs. It requires NBCTs to think outside of the classroom and school and to consider the broad range of conditions that make quality instruction and student achievement more likely.

What do we mean by policy? Policy is a principle, plan or course of action pursued by a governmental entity. It is a combination of basic decisions and actions that frame or prescribe the way issues or concerns are to be tackled. Education policy is most frequently made at the school district level by a superintendent and school board. It is made at the state level by the Governor, State Board of Education, Department of Education and/or the State Legislature. Policy does not necessarily require legislation, but it almost always requires formal action, such as a law passed by the General Assembly or a rule or standard promulgated by the State Board. School funding is based on policies, but funding decisions can also shape policies. Sometimes procedures and practices have the same weight as policy (“that’s the way we’ve always done it”).

Education Policy is also made at the national level by the executive branch – i.e., the Department of Education – acting through legislation passed by the Congress. An example of this is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, otherwise known as The No Child Left Behind Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Based on this Act, the US Department of Education wrote regulations for the implementation of its provisions. These regulations became policies that require certain actions by states and local school districts. The US Department of Education also issues guidance which does not have the force of law, but it does shape both policy and practice.

For the purpose of our Ohio Policy Summit, we are looking for recommendations that are direct, specific and able to inform the dialogue at the state and local policy levels about how to effectively educate every child so that all students achieve at higher levels and the achievement gaps among demographic groups are eliminated. This includes the question of how to ensure that so-called hard-to-staff schools are able to attract, support and retain highly-accomplished teachers. The basic premise of the Summit is that Ohio’s most accomplished teachers know best what it will take and their thinking should become a major resource to policymakers. Our focus throughout the summit will be on crafting specific solutions to the complex, systemic problems of student achievement and sharing them with people in the state who are in the best positions to create policies that will make NBCTs’ recommendations a reality.

The policy recommendations that are made at this Summit will be shared with policymakers, the education community, and the public at large. They will serve as a road map for local and state policymakers as they work to ensure accomplished teachers for all students, regardless of circumstances, needs and backgrounds. In this way, the work that NBCTs do on November 16 will help guarantee a successful future for all of our state’s children.