In Quest of Excellence: National Board Certification

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In Quest of ExcellenceNational Board
Certification
Judy Shulman, WestEd
CDE
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Professional Development Continuum
Pre-service Preparation Induction On-going
Professional Development (Pre-Candidate
Program) Support for National Board
Candidates National Board Certification Leadership
Opportunities for NBCTs
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National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

• Created in 1987 in response to A Nation at Risk
  and A Nation Prepared
• Independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan and
  non-governmental organization
• Support from foundations, corporations, grants
  from the U.S. Department of Education, and
  candidate fees

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Board of Directors

• 63 members
• Californians
• Judith Bodenhausen Teacher
• K Derek Moriuchi EA/MATH
• Richard Navarro Dean, Cal Poly, Pomona
• Andrea Pulido ECYA/ENS
• Isabel Stuewe MC/GEN
• Carolyn Williams ECYA/ENS

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Vision of NBC

• Reward accomplished teaching
• Recognize the complexity of teaching including
  metacognitive analysis and reflectionand assess
  its complexity
• Revolutionize teacher assessment (standards,
  evidence, benchmarks) no checklist of discrete
  skills

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Vision of NBC (cont)

• Create content-based and age-specific
  assessments, not a generic test of excellence
• Incorporate assessments over time (portfolio) as
  well as at an assessment center
• Represent state-of-the-art professional
  development for teachers
• Change norm of isolation to norm of collaboration

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NBPTS Mission

• The National Boards mission is to advance the
  quality of teaching and learning by
• providing a national voluntary system certifying
  teachers who meet these standards, and
• maintaining high and rigorous standards for what
  accomplished teachers should know and be able to
  do, and
• advocating related educational reforms to
  integrate National Board Certification in
  American education and to capitalize on the
  expertise of National Board Certified Teachers

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Professionalization of Teaching

• Teachers form the majority (2/3) of the National
  Boards board of directors
• Teachers form the majority of National Board
  standards committees
• Teachers work on the National Board Staff
• Teachers have staff positions with National Board
  and contractors
• Teachers score assessment exercises and set
  performance standards

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Comparison of Licensure and National Board
Certification

• State Licensing
• Mandatory
• Entry-level
• Standards vary by state
• Mainly focused on content knowledge
• Standards created with some teacher involvement

• NB Certification
• Voluntary
• Advanced
• Standards are uniform across country
• Focused on content knowledge, performance and
  professional judgment
• Standards created by committees with teacher
  majorities

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National Board Certified Teachers
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California NBCTs
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Five Core Propositions

• Teachers are committed to students and their
  learning
• Teachers know the subjects they teach, and how to
  teach those subjects to students
• Teachers are responsible for managing and
  monitoring student learning
• Teachers think systematically about their
  practice and learn from experience
• Teachers are members of learning communities

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Standards

• Based on five core propositions
• Created by committees of teachers, teacher
  educators, developmental experts and leaders in
  disciplinary fields
• Reviewed publicly by a field of education and
  teaching experts
• Revision cycle in place

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CALIFORNIA NBCTs (2001)

• Art 35
• Careers/Tech 6
• English 222
• Eng/New Lang 30
• Exc. Needs 40
• TOTAL

• Generalists 714
• Math 105
• PE 8
• Science 89
• History 56
• 1,305

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Where are the NBCTs in California?
Professional Development Regions
9
6
49
80
7
67
14
70
29
710
248
Source CDE Database 12/01
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National Board Certificates

• Currently available
• (2002-2003)
• 24 Certificates
• 95 of teaching population

• Future Certificates
• Literacy (03-04)
• Health Education
• Guidance and Counseling

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Student Age Ranges

• Early Childhood 3-8
• Middle Childhood 712
• Early Middle Childhood 312
• Early Childhood Young Adulthood 318
• Early Adolescence 1115
• Adolescence Young Adulthood 1418
• Early Adolescence Young Adulthood 1118
• Exceptional Needs Specialist covers
  ages birth 21

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Generalist Certifications

• Early Childhood (3 8)
• Middle Childhood (7 12)
• Early Adolescence (11 15)

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Early Middle Childhood (ages 3 12)

• Art
• English as a New Language
• Music
• Physical Education
• World Languages other than English

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Early Adolescence and Young Adulthood (11 18)

• Art
• Career and Technical Education
• English as a New Language
• Music
• Physical Education
• World Languages other than English

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Early Adolescence (11 15)

• English Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies-History

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Adolescence through Young Adulthood (14 18)

• English Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies-History

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Early Childhood through Young Adulthood

• Exceptional Need Specialist
• (birth 18)
• Library Media Specialist
• (3 18)

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National Certification Process

• PORTFOLIO
• Video tapes
• Student work
• Beyond the classroom
• Description of practice
• Reflective writing
• Artifacts

• ASSESSMENT CENTER
• Half day
• Six content prompts
• Up to 30 minutes each
• Computer skills

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Portfolios 2002- 2003
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Assessment Center 2002 2003
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Eligibility

• A bachelors degree
• Three years of teaching experience at the early
  childhood, elementary, middle, or secondary
  school level
• Have a valid teaching license or teach in a
  school approved by the state

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Scoring

• Ten weighted scores 4 portfolio and 6
  assessment center entries
• Benchmark for passing is 275 out of 400 points
  (2.75 out of 4.0 for each entry)
• Total must include all ten
• You may bank passing scores for two years and
  retake entries with low scores (retake fees)

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If I Complete All the Requirements Ill Probably
Pass, Right?

• Approximately 50 of candidates currently achieve
  National Board Certification the first time they
  apply
• Success rate increases significantly for those
  who bank scores and retake entries
• 10 year certification

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Candidate Fee, 2,300

• Online Application and Portfolio Directions
  Available
• State Fee Subsidy Program
• NB Scholarship Program
• District Professional Development Funds

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Candidate Subsidy Program

• Applications available in June
• (www.cde.ca.gov/pd/nbpts.html)
• Subsidies awarded after October 31, 2002
• November notification will detail method of
  payment
• Available as a reimbursement

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10,000 Incentive Award

• NBCT
• Public School
• Assigned to Teach
• At Least 50
• Includes Coaching and Mentoring Roles
• One-time Eligibility
• District Grant Process
• Early Summer Payment

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20,000 Incentive Award

• NBCT
• Public School
• Assigned to Teach Students at Least 60
• One-time Eligibility

• API 5 or Less
• Four Year Cycle
• 5000 per Year
• District Grant
• Late Summer Payment

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What Does National Certification Hold for the
Classroom Teacher?

• The highest acknowledgement of accomplished
  teaching
• An opportunity to grow and be challenged as a
  professional
• An opportunity for teachers to affirm that they
  are accomplished professionals

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Accomplished Teaching Validation StudyLloyd
Bond, PI

• NBCTs significantly outperformed their peers who
  are not Board Certified on 11 of 13 key
  dimensions
• Students of NBCTs demonstrated a deeper
  understanding of the concepts they were taught in
  units the researchers had observed
• 74 of the student work samples in classes taught
  by NBCTs reflected deep understanding of the
  unit they were taught, compared to 29 of the
  work samples of students taught by non-certified
  teachers

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I am a Better Teacher What Candidates
for National Board Certification Say About
the Assessment Process NBPTS Research
Report, November 2001

• Key finding 1 Ninety-two percent of the
  candidates said they believe the NBC process has
  made them a better teacher
• Key finding 2 Ninety-six percent of
  respondents rated the NBC process as a(n)
  excellent, very good, or good professional
  development experience
• Key finding 3 Participation in the NBC process
  equips teachers to create stronger curricula
  (89), improves their abilities to evaluate
  student learning (89), and helps them develop a
  framework to use state content standards to
  improve teaching (80)

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I am a Better Teacher What Candidates
for National Board Certification Say About
the Assessment Process (cont) NBPTS
Research Report, November 2001

• Key finding 4 Participation in NBC process
  enhances teacher interaction with students (82),
  parents and guardians (82), and helps to improve
  collaborations with other students (80)
• Key finding 5 There is now a high level of
  awareness in schools (68) and school districts
  (81) of teachers who are candidates for NBC and
  those who have achieved certification
• Key finding 6 Candidates for national board
  certification are receiving high levels of
  support from their teaching colleagues (86),
  their principals (80), and district
  administrators (63)

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The National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards

• WWW.NBPTS.ORG
• 1-800 22TEACH

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National Board Support Network at WestEd

• www.wested.org/nbsn

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WWW.CDE.CA.GOV/PD/NBPTS.HTML

• INFORMATION
• Fee Subsidies
• Incentive Awards
• Applications
• NBCT ListServ
• FAQs

• LINKS
• NBPTS
• District Support
• Higher Ed Support
• Regional Support
• Lists of CA NBCTs