National Board Certification

What’s Here

It’s official–I’m a National Board Certified teacher! Only those who have attempted the process themselves can understand the amount of pride (and relief) that accompanies that declaration. I certified in the 2005-2006 school year on my first go around, and it was by far the most challenging accomplishment of my career. I am honored to share my experiences and hopefully help out those who are undergoing the NBCT process.

Important Notes and Disclaimers

Before I share anything else, let me make four things very, very clear:

1) I am NOT an affiliate of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. I don’t attempt to represent their views and they don’t endorse anything on my site. I speak only as a private individual on a personal website.

2) I can NOT divulge anything more specific than what you see here. Please do not email me asking to see portfolio entries or questioning what was on the assessment center exercises. Candidates have to sign confidentiality statements and can have their certification revoked if they violate that agreement.

3) There is NO ‘magic formula’ for certifying, and I don’t mean to imply in any way that my methods were the ‘right’ or the only successful ones. Teaching is as much an art as it is a science, and NBPTS honors that. What I want to share are resources and tips for organizing your own ideas–not tell you how to teach or how to present your teaching in order to become a NBCT.

4) The assessment center exercises have changed considerably since I certified, and some of my strategies might not apply to the current AC. I’m told specifically that ACIA-HEART is not applicable now.

Okay, now that that’s said, let’s get on to some things that I’ve learned through the process that may be of use to those who are considering candidacy.

FAQs About Becoming an NBCT

What is National Board Certification?

Please visit the NBPTS website, which will explain everything you want to know. For me to go into detail here would be redundant, because there’s such a wealth of information on their site.

Why would I want to become Nationally Certified?

The biggest benefit is the improvement you see in your teaching practice. I have learned so much through this process because I’ve had to analyze what is effective and what isn’t in my teaching practice. My students are now excited about science because of the way I learned to teach it through my research for NBPTS. And I know almost all the grade level expectations for every subject area in grades PreK-3 because of the intense amount of studying I did for the assessment center. Another benefit to the NB process is that NBCT’s can teach in any state. But of course, money is the biggest incentive for most teachers, if they’re really honest (and I am!). Most states/districts provide financial incentives–you can find out what’s offered in your area by visiting your state department of education’s website or the NBPTS site. Click here to read about how NBPTS describes the benefits of becoming certified.

What do you have to do to become certified?

Lots of people–especially those not in the field of education–ask this question all the time, not realizing that it’s like saying, “So what exactly do teachers do all long?”. Ummm…how much time do you have for me to explain?  Here’s NBPTS’ answer to this question, in short form and with more detailed info. But, I’ll give a broad oversimplification of the NBPTS process: 4 portfolio entries and a computerized (written-answer) test. Two of the portfolio entries involve videotaping and reflecting on lessons, 1 requires you to collect and analyze student work, and 1 documents evidence of your professional growth, collaboration, and outreach to families and the community. The test portion has 6 parts. It’s timed, 30 minutes for each part. You take it at an assessment center on the computer, typing in your responses. And yes, there are fees involved (see if state/local incentives are available). The process IS as time-consuming as you’ve heard—I probably spent about 1,000 hours in total.

My Top 5 Most Valuable NB Resources

1. I joined a support group now called EC-Gen.Org. Originally, it was just an EC-Gen yGroup, just like TheCornerstoneForTeachers yGroup, only this one was for teachers going through the NB process for Early Childhood Generalist certification. My understanding is that now, there is a $35 fee for a full-year subscription and it’s totally worth it. An NB candidate support provider who’s unaffiliated with the site emailed me and wrote, “Kelly Mueller [the original moderator for the mail ring] has an amazing library of resources for all entries, weekly chats, and forums for each entry set up.  She, and others who post, use a ‘coaching’ model when addressing candidates questions. You never hear someone tell a candidate to ‘do this or do that or don’t do this or that’.  Instead they promote thinking through thoughtful questioning.  It’s a first-rate, high-quality, highly reliable site for candidates.   I believe it is money well spent and I’ve urged my EC and MCGen candidates to join it. Every one of my candidates who accessed the site said it was more than worth the money.”  If you don’t want to pay to join, you can also visit the NBPTS message boards at Teachers.Net–they are less active than the ecgen.org site and they don’t archive old posts, but the boards are still a good tool to have). If you are not an EC-Gen person, try visiting the message board link above and searching for other groups. EC-Gen is the largest, but there are others!

2. I downloaded all the files from the EC-Gen ring. (See directions for #1 above to access the site). There are TONS of files–archived chats and posts, explanations of concepts, study tips, and much more. It was THE most valuable source of info I had because it was coming straight from people who had gone through the process and knew what was expected.

3. I had mentors and a support group in my school district. We met every week for 2 hours. They read over my entries, watched my videos, and helped me study for the AC. Their help was invaluable, especially since they knew my teaching context and we were able to talk in natural conversation (as opposed to over the internet). Now, I am NOT a study group type of person–I never joined anything like that for either my bachelors or my masters’ degree! But I quickly realized I was in over my head with the NB process and I needed help. It’s not like college when you have a professor advising you and classes to attend–without a group; it’s just you trying to make sense of it all on your own. You HAVE to find support, locally if possible. The NBPTS site has a directory of NBCT’s so you can find someone near you.

4. I asked as many people as possible to read my portfolio entries. In fact, I had 7 readers, and each one would make different suggestions and catch things the other ones hadn’t. I’m sure my portfolio work was a million times better after having so many people give me a fresh perspective on it. I revised each entry dozens of times, but the writing got progressively better, and it was worth it.

5. I assessed for NBPTS prior to undertaking the certification process myself. Most people don’t realize that teachers are the ones who grade, or assess, all of the portfolios and assessment center exercises. This takes place during June and July each year. There are requirements about your teaching experience and degrees, but you do NOT have to be NB certified in order to assess. I was able to assess the summer before I started the process myself. That meant I was trained to look at my own work like an assessor. Plus, the pay is good, and assessing is a great summer job. It’s hard work and very intense, but I HIGHLY recommend doing it, especially if you’re about to go through the certification process. (Of course, you can’t assess during the year that you were a candidate so that there’s no chance of you scoring your own work). Visit the NBPTS assessor page for details.

Ideas for Time Management

-START EARLY! The deadlines creep up on you fast. NB provides a time management planner in the portfolio directions with suggestions on what to do when, but I didn’t use it because my brain just didn’t work like that: I needed my own system. I started gathering ideas and resources for my portfolio in the fall, but didn’t begin videotaping until January. My entire life from January-March revolved around NB. I would go to work and teach an NB lesson, videotape it, then come home and watch/analyze the tape and write about it for hours. I moved my favorite chair from the living room to the bedroom and curled up there with my laptop for hours every night and alllll weekend long. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds because there was an end in sight–everything was due March 15th, so I could count down the days until I had my life back!

-Videotape early. If I were to do it again, I would have started taping my entries as soon as I felt like my classroom routines and procedures were in place (Sept/Oct), because taping was the most time-consuming and stressful part. November and December can be difficult times to tape if your kids are a little crazy from the holidays and vacations, and if you put it off until January, you’ll be cutting it really close. There are many candidates who end up submitting a tape they are less than thrilled with, simply because they run out of time to re-do it.

-Consider your standardized testing schedule when designing your lessons. If you are expected to use mostly test-prep materials for the entire month of February, that’s going to affect your ability to implement NB-quality lessons. Also, if testing is a stressful time for you, then you’ll want to have most of your NB stuff completed before then.

-Start working with mentors as soon as possible! Most candidates wait until Jan/Feb to start taping and then they submit piles of entries to their mentors in March. I began with my mentors in December and was the only candidate they saw for several weeks. I had their undivided attention during the entire two hour weekly sessions and received quality feedback and input that I would never have received in March when they were frazzled from having so many demands on them.

-Consider beginning entry 4 first, because it requires you to gather so many forms, recommendations, and documentation sources. I actually began compiling resources and writing the entry over the summer before school started so I only had 3 entries to focus on during the school year. Some candidates put the least amount of effort into entry 4 because it’s worth fewer points than the other three, but you can’t afford to slack off on any part of the NB process.

-If you are doing EC-Gen, I recommend saving student work for entry 1 right from the beginning of the school year. Pick 3 or 4 kids (not just 2, in case one of them moves away or turns out not to be the right child for the write-up) and save tons of writing samples. That will give you more options later on when you’re ready to write your analysis.

-Take a break between the portfolio and assessment center. After my portfolio was due in March, I relaxed for about 6 weeks and then started studying for the AC. Some people take the AC earlier, but the deadline is typically at the end of June. Why not focus on the portfolio first, breathe a little, and then study for the AC? Plus, I knew a lot more about NB standards and expectations after going through the portfolio process and that helped me tremendously on the test.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING…you’ll find tips for each entry and ideas for organizing the (massive amounts of) paper you’ll consume!

Pages: 1 2