Portfolio

Yes, you may type in bold or italics or for emphasis.

Artifacts are documents that have been produced by engaging in educational activities related to interaction with families, community, or professional development. Examples of Artifacts are letters you have received from parents, letters you have sent home, professional articles, grant proposals, syllabi for professional classes you have taught and overviews of presentations or workshops. Verification Forms are used when activities do not leave a paper trail, and are completed by colleagues, parents, and/or community members who comment on your description of the activity and confirm its accuracy. Only the Verification Form included in your portfolio instructions will be accepted for this entry.

Assessors must be able to see that the activities and accomplishments you submit belong to you. Your name and the date of the accomplishment must be included on all of your documentation. In the case where your name and the date do not appear, we advise you to add your name and the date and submit a Verification Form in addition to your other documentation to strengthen your evidence.

While we prefer candidates to submit the original, a faxed or photocopied Verification Form will be accepted.

The same person may verify only one accomplishment within each category for Documented   Accomplishments. For example, a person who verifies in Category 1 may not verify another accomplishment within this category, but could verify an accomplishment in Category 2 and one in Category 3. While this is possible, it is more likely that convincing evidence will come from more than just one source.

Documentation that exists on paper larger than 8.5" x 11" must be reduced for submission. Please remember that the text on the page you submit must be in a 12 point or larger font.

An activity or accomplishment that lies outside of the given time constraint may only be included if some of your involvement in the activity is current.

It is unavoidable that some candidates will share similar activities, especially if they work at the same school. The fact that you both may submit proof of attending the same workshop does not disqualify your submission. Please note, however, that simply because you both attended the same workshops and in-services does not mean that your scores will be the same. What each individual candidate does with the knowledge or skills acquired at such activities will determine the strength of this evidence. Assessors will read your Description/Analysis to see if the activity has been related to student learning and what significance it has within the candidate's teaching context.

Although photographs are not discouraged, they may not be the strongest form of evidence. You may want to consider submitting some type of written document that accompanies your photographs. Remember that you must obtain a release form from all people whose images appear in photographs. If permission cannot be obtained, the photograph cannot be submitted.

Evidence of activities that significantly impacts students that do not belong on the teacher's roster may be included, but it is important that the majority of the accomplishments you document impact the learning of your students.

Neither one is preferred over the other nor will a preponderance of one type over the other affect your score. For some activities and accomplishments, you will acquire documentation easily. For others, you will discover that there is not a paper trail, and, thus, you must find someone who knows what you have done to sign a Verification Form. In every case, it is up to you to decide whether to submit an Artifact or a Verification Form. Your decision should be based on which type of documentation will most clearly communicate the nature of your accomplishment. Assessors look for the connections between what you say in the Description/Analysis and what you attach as the documentation to support it.

For evidence that appears in a language other than English, candidates may submit a separate sheet that translates the documentation/verification. In Entry 4, this separate sheet of transcription does not count towards the total page allowance.

Yes, it is acceptable to submit activities and accomplishments from a school other than the one where you are currently teaching. Remember that documentation of your work with families and community of your students must be taken from the current school year.

Yes, provided the accomplishments are within the specified time period and they demonstrate an impact on student learning.

Accomplishments relating to your work with students' families and community must come from the current year. All evidence of your work with students must be gathered during the 12-month period immediately preceding the portfolio deadline. Accomplishments relating to your work as a learner and leader and/or collaborator must come from the last five years.

Example: if your portfolio is due March 31, 2009, the evidence as a learner and leader and/or collaborator must be gathered between April 2004 and March 2009. If a project/program being used as evidence encompassed the entire 2003-2004 school calendar year (i.e., it began in the fall of 2003 and continued through the spring of 2004), it will be acceptable as evidence.

You must not remove information identifying you from the evidence you submit, because assessors must know whose evidence they are evaluating. The full name of anyone who verifies your accomplishments must also appear. Leave last names in place when the evidence is printed matter that is not confidential in nature (for example, names from a newspaper article, journal article,     school board letterhead, and similar documents). It can be very difficult to remove all traces of school identity from the evidence, as the impact of many school-related documents is at least partly derived from the authority behind the institution. Therefore, it is all right to leave in school, institution and geographic identifiers when you believe that this information is significant.

Student work and video evidence submitted in response to classroom-based entries must be from students in the content area and at the developmental level of your certificate area. If your teaching  context changes in such a way that your content area, developmental level, or both are different, you may need to "borrow" a class to complete your classroom-based entries. You may, however, submit evidence for Entry 4: Documented Accomplishments that comes from both of your classes, even if the students in one of the classes are outside the developmental range of your certificate area. If you submit evidence from classes with students in different age ranges, you must submit documentation, description, and analysis for at least one accomplishment in response to Category 1 (i.e., your work with the families and community of your students during the current year) that shows evidence of your work with the families and communities of students at the developmental level, and in the content area, of your selected certificate area.

Yes, you can submit a Communication Log in response to Category 1 of Entry 4 (i.e., your work with the families and community of your students during the current year) that features interactions with classes that are not in the developmental range of your certificate area. But your Communication Log must include interactions with the families and community of students that you worked with that are in the content area and at the developmental age range of your selected certificate area. In addition, you should be sure to provide a Description/Analysis for the information in your communication log, not just the log itself.

E-mail may be used to document your work with families and your professional development as an Artifact. E-mail is not the same as a letter of verification.

A communication log is actually documentation of your work with your students' families and their community. You will need to write a Description/Analysis for your work just as you would any other accomplishment or activity. You will need to explain not only why your work is significant in your teaching context, but also the impact it has on student learning. Remember that a communication log is not mandatory. It is one possible way to keep track of the communications you make outside the classroom with various people regarding your students and their learning. What is important is that you submit documentation that you have gone above and beyond routine efforts to build communication.

The Communication Log should be an accurate representation of your outreach with the families of your students and your community. We recommend that you do not "cut and paste" random entries from your school Communication Log. Instead, choose whole pages that best illustrate interactive communication between your students, families and others interested in the students' learning. You could describe a communication that spanned over several weeks but only submit a sample(s) of the documentation.

Yes. While a candidate must demonstrate proficiency for the certificate area, a candidate's entire teaching context may be taken into consideration in preparing Entry 4. Each one of your accomplishments must demonstrate an impact on student learning. World Languages Other than English candidates must demonstrate impact on student language learning. School counseling accomplishments must be significant within the school counseling context and candidates must show what impact their accomplishments have on student learning and the improvement of their school counseling programs.

Entry 4 asks you to describe your activities or accomplishments that are significant in your counseling context and what impact they have had on student learning and the improvement of your school counseling program. Impact should show improved student learning; however, it may not be strictly related to academic improvement. By learning, we mean learning in the broadest sense of the word. The learning impact could be a result of improvements in cognitive, social, behavioral, therapeutic, or emotional skills in relation to the student learning.

It is permissible to single space, using 12-point Times New Roman, on the Contextual Information Sheet, the top of the Letter of Verification, and a response written directly on a Cover Sheet. All other materials including your Written Commentaries, Reflective Summary, and all other portfolio materials must be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman

Quoted material should simply be referenced in parenthesis in the text. Footnotes are not required.

Although graphics incorporated into the Written Commentary are not prohibited, candidates should keep in mind that the page allowance set by the developers of this assessment was intended for text, not graphics. In other words, the assessment developers designated a page allowance for the Written Commentary that would allow for a complete and concise discussion of the sections within this component. It is important to also note how performances are scored—the weight of an entry lies principally in the analysis of the Written Commentary and, secondly, to artifacts, video recording, or photographs.

These are suggested page lengths provided as a guide for you to use as you prepare the commentary. If you find that you are able to complete a section using fewer pages than suggested, you can use the remaining page count from that section to complete another section of the commentary. Keep in mind that your commentary must not exceed the maximum total page allowances established. (Pages in excess of the maximum will not be scored.) However, you are not required to submit the maximum number of pages in order for your portfolio entries to be scored.

You may select to number in this way, but you are not required to do so. Some candidates find it easier to number each of the entry components separately. Some candidates choose to use one set of sequential numbers. Just remember not to exceed the page allowances for each component.

Your Written Commentaries must be typed; however, instructional materials may be submitted in the same form as they are presented in your classroom.

Candidates from almost every state submit their portfolios for scoring. Too many regional differences exist for assessors to know state-specific information presented in Written Commentaries. If candidates refer to these items in the Written Commentary, it is strongly suggested they spell them out in order to avoid confusion and to facilitate the scoring process.

The questions in the Written Commentary section of the portfolio entry instructions should be responded to, but do not type the questions themselves as part of your actual response for the entry. Use the bolded section titles for your headings, and then type your answers to the questions for that section. It is not necessary to begin a new page for each bolded section. When the questions for one section have been completed, begin the next section.

Since these pages do not count toward the page allowance for the entry, they should not be numbered.

An entry that is written in a font that is smaller than 12 point is not generally disqualified. If the size of the font is smaller, the decision is made to score an equivalent amount of the original text translated into a 12-point font. This usually means that a few pages will not be scored. If a Written Commentary is typed in a compressed font, a similar solution is found. An entry with text in both a compressed and an undersized font may be disqualified.

Documentation may be submitted in the same manner in which it was received, provided it is clear and legible.

The tracking requirements were established to give teachers the opportunity to demonstrate the broadest range of their teaching practice. This would not be possible if all entries focused on the same students, lesson and unit of study. The rule states that each one of the classroom-based entries must be supported by different lessons or units. In other words, no student work samples can be taken from a unit or lesson that is featured in either of the other entries. The students chosen should represent different kinds of instructional challenges for you. The Entry Tracking Form is included in the Organizer of your portfolio instructions to help keep a record of the selections you make as you complete your classroom-based portfolio entries.

The NBPTS definition of "unit" is a section of an academic course based on selected themes or concepts. A unit may correspond to a chapter in a text, or may be thematically based.

It is up to the candidate to decide if his/her entries are being supported by different units or lessons. NBPTS recognizes that many candidates support long instructional periods with the same unit/lesson. In this case, "units" are divided into different divisions. These divisions would constitute an entirely separate unit or lesson and it would be acceptable for the candidate to feature these separate divisions in one or more of the classroom-based entries.

No. You must use double space formatting as instructed in the portfolio instructions. There is a process in place at the scoring site to ensure format specifications have been followed. Therefore, if a candidate has submitted a written commentary using the 24 pt line spacing instead of double spacing, it will affect the amount of evidence that is scored and may adversely affect a candidate's score.

Assessors should be able to hear all of what you say and most of what your students say on the recording, however, you should not submit a transcript unless one or more of the following conditions apply:

• If your video/DVD includes brief occasions of manual language without voicing, you must submit a transcript of the conversation from those occasions. The transcript of these passages may be incorporated into your Written Commentary (without exceeding page limit for the Written Commentary). In the transcript, reference the manual language that is being used (e.g. American Sign Language).
• Similarly, if the student's speech is unintelligible because of technical difficulties or because of speech impairment, you must submit a transcript of the student's remarks. The transcript of the student's speech may be incorporated into your Written Commentary. However, the Written Commentary should not exceed allowable number of pages.
• If your video/DVD is extensively or exclusively in manual language with or without voicing, you do not  have to submit a transcript. Interpreters will be available during the scoring process to allow assessors to understand what is being said.
• Candidates who exercise the Spanish Language Option complete the same portfolio entries and assessment center exercises as their certificate-area colleagues; however, these candidates may submit student work and video recordings for the portfolio that are in Spanish accompanied by an English language translation. The Written Commentary accompanying each portfolio entry and the responses to the assessment center exercises, however, must be in English. A written English translation of any written student work and/or a written transcription in English of any video evidence submitted in Spanish is required in order for the responses to be scored. Pages containing translations do not count against the page totals  specified in the entry directions.
• If expressions or phrases in languages other than English and/or Spanish are included, candidates should include brief explanations in the Written Commentary that accompanies each portfolio response.

Verify that your CD-ROM drive is properly connected to your hard drive. Verify that your operating system and hardware meet the following requirements:

Contact NBPTS at 800-22TEACH. NBPTS will send a replacement CD. Have your candidate ID number ready to provide to the Customer Service Representative.

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Contact us at 800-22TEACH. If the CD is damaged so that the navigation links cannot be accessed, NBPTS will send you a replacement CD-ROM.

Check to make sure you have an active Internet connection. If you have an active Internet connection and cannot access a Web address through a link provided on the CD, please check to see if you can access the link successfully from your browser. If not, the link on your CD may be broken and should be reported to NBPTS so that a correction can be made and a replacement CD sent to you.

Try to access the link to the section using the Index found on the right navigation bar in Resources. If you can't link from the Index, contact NBPTS at 800-22TEACH to receive a replacement CD.

Yes. We've designed the CD-ROM to accommodate your viewing preferences. Please see your browser's help file for how to change the font size.

If you do not have Microsoft Word® installed on your computer, a free viewer is available from Microsoft. Microsoft Office® Converters and Viewers and technical support are available online at www.microsoft.com.

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Make sure there is paper in the printer, your printer is properly set up, and switched on.

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Graphics will not be included in printouts. We've designed the CD-ROM so that the content is printer friendly and graphics were excluded to reduce print time.

Check to make sure your margins in page setup are appropriate. Suggested value for all margins is 0.5 inches.

A search function was not added to the CD. You can, however, navigate to any section of the CD-ROM by using the links in the Index. In addition, Adobe Acrobat Reader has a search function ("Find") that you can use to find words or phrases in the PDF of the portfolio instructions.

Two navigation tools are provided for this purpose. At the top of every screen, there are four buttons: "Intro"; "Get Started"; "Entries"; and "Pack & Ship." When you roll over each of these buttons, a drop-down menu will appear. To access a section click on the links listed in the drop-down menus. The second navigation tool is the Index. A link to every section of the CD-ROM is included in the Index.

These links were included as "desktop references". Each link represents a resource that you may need to access as you are preparing your entries:

Click on "Home" in the right-hand banner.

If you've finished with a section, e.g., the Intro, and want to move onto Get Started, you may use the navigation buttons at the top of the screen or the links provided in the Index.

If you are using an Apple/Macintosh Computer, make sure you are opening the disc using Internet Explorer. Your computer settings may automatically attempt to open the disc using your default browser, which is not compatible with our CD-ROM.

A video/DVD entry will not be disqualified because of its length. If it is not as long as the entry allows, the critical question is whether it includes everything that was specified in the entry instructions. For an entry that requires a 15-minute recording, it is doubtful that a 3-minute recording will demonstrate all of the teacher-student and student-student interaction that the entry may require, while an 11-minute recording might easily meet the entry requirements for interaction. In general, it is not advisable to submit an entry that is less than half the maximum length. While submitting a recording that exceeds the time limit does not disqualify your entry, assessors will not view those that go beyond the stated time limit.

Candidates should be filming their entire classroom. In other words, every student on the roster who is present and whose parents/guardians have submitted a Student Release Form should be in the classroom when the film is being made. Teachers should not "pick and choose" which students to feature.

The date and time (correct or otherwise) will not be considered a graphic and will not affect the score of your entry.

Yes, you may submit a video/DVD that reveals your state. This will not divulge your precise location.

Yes. It is permissible for a student whose work is featured in a classroom-based entry to appear in your video/DVD. Remember that the recordings you use for the portfolio must feature different lessons from different units. There must be no overlap between the lessons and units in the video/DVD entries or among the classroom-based entries.

You may submit a copy of this instruction if the entry permits instructional artifacts or assessment artifacts.

Each of the entries requiring video supporting evidence should feature your work with a single student in the context of your choice. If you are not working directly with the featured student for a portion of the video/DVD segment, it should be discussed in the commentary. The choice of context for the video/DVD is your professional decision, reflecting teaching style, knowledge of the student's needs and best practices for a given student at a particular stage of the development in a particular setting or context. The portfolio is intended to be flexible enough to encompass the broad range of the Exceptional Needs Specialist field.

No, your video/DVD will not be disqualified because you or one of your students is wearing a nametag. Many teachers wear nametags because of security measures.

Yes, you will need a signed Student Release Form for any student or a signed Adult Release Form for any adult who can be identified in the video/DVD, even though they were not part of the lesson.

Yes, you may use the same class for both videos/DVDs. NBPTS encourages teachers to use more than one class in completing the portfolio entries in order to demonstrate the broadest range of their teaching practice. Therefore, teachers who have multiple classes that meet the age and content requirements should take advantage of the availability of these different classes when completing the classroom-based entries.

Yes, your face should be shown clearly and sufficiently enough in the recording to identify you (the image of you in your photo ID and the image of you in your video should be similar enough to make an identification). However, what is more crucial in the video/DVD entries is that some of the footage allows assessors to see the facial expressions of both you and your students. Facial expressions, along with action and sound, provide assessors with important information about the effectiveness of the communication between you and your students. These elements plus the Written Commentary should work together to meet the entry requirements and give assessors a clear understanding of what you are trying to convey about your teaching.

An edit is a stop in the video/DVD regardless of whether or not the camera was "paused" or stopped accidentally. An edit will appear to the assessor as a break or a missing piece of the action. Stopping and restarting the camera or the sound during recording will be regarded as an edit and the video/DVD will not be scored.

If a brief disturbance occurs during the lesson that you are recording, you may still be able to use the video/DVD. Interruptions such as someone knocking on the door to your classroom, an announcement on the public address system, or your telephone ringing are all routine parts of a teaching day. As long as the situation is brief enough that you can get the lesson back on track without causing much delay or confusion, the lesson may still be suitable for submission with your portfolio. If someone accidentally identifies any person by his or her full name during the recording, you should not let this keep you from submitting the video of that lesson. (Do not edit the video to "bleep" out the last name; doing so would be regarded as editing the video/DVD and would disqualify it.) The mention of someone's name in a video/DVD should not be disruptive or repeated. However, you must still take care not to mention anyone by his or her full name in your Written Commentary and other written work.

Teacher redirection is a routine part of classroom management and including it in your video/DVD will not disqualify the video/DVD and it will not automatically lower the score. Be sure you are working with your students when commenting and not addressing the situation just for the camera.

Standard VHS format is required as scoring sites are currently equipped to handle only this format. Because the candidate must retain a back-up copy of the tape, as required in the entry directions, submitting a non-standard tape in an adapter is not acceptable.

For Video: In the Get Started section of the portfolio instructions are "Video Recording Practical Matters" which advise candidates that they should make a copy of their videos prior to submitting any materials to NBPTS. The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM also includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials — including videos — become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

For DVD: The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials -- including DVDs -- become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

Teacher redirection is a routine part of classroom management and including it in your footage will not disqualify the DVD or automatically lower the score. Be sure you are working with your students when commenting and not addressing the situation just for the camera.

Use a standard single-sided DVD-R = Recordable format disc. DO NOT use double-sided discs, mini DVDs (8 cm/3.1 inches), or discs of other formats (i.e., DVD, DVD+R, DVDRW, DVD+RW). The DVD-R is the most commonly used disc and the format that is most compatible with the largest number of DVD players. In addition, we strongly recommend you select a silver or metallic color disc so that identifying information you write on the disc can be clearly seen.

The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials -- including DVDs -- become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

If you are submitting an entry on DVD it is not necessary to submit a VHS version.

The DVD instructions included in your portfolio box include directions for preparing and labeling your DVD. You should not place any type of label directly onto the DVD. This may cause it to become jammed in the DVD player during scoring. Be sure to review the Pack & Ship section of your CD-ROM as well to ensure you satisfy all the requirements for packing your entry.

The portfolio return due date will be the same regardless of the method used for submission.

No. Your original materials will not be returned to you after scoring.

All candidate entries will be treated the same regardless of the method used for submission. You will not have an advantage or a disadvantage because you choose to submit an entry on DVD instead of VHS.

You should not submit more than one entry per DVD. If you are submitting two video entries, you will need two separate DVDs.

Our goal is to respond to all inquiries within 3 to 5 business days. If your inquiry is older than that, something has probably “interfered” with our response to you. This interference is usually caused by the settings on a Spam filter, either at your Internet Service Provider or on your computer. Before you send a second inquiry:

Check with your Internet Service Provider to make sure that e-mails to you from domain @nbpts.org are not being blocked.
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In this situation, you should add the domain @nbpts.org to the Safe Senders List.

It is acceptable to have title menus at the beginning that shows Candidate ID and Entry number (this is similar to when you start any DVD).  This is acceptable as long as only your unedited video entry is evident after “play” is started. Each DVD burning application works a little differently - some Macs automatically create a slide show that plays during the menu with clips from the video. You will not be penalized for this. Be sure to use your Candidate ID number and entry; do not include your name in the menu.

In an effort to give every candidate an equal opportunity to achieve, certain guidelines have been established for the submission of videotapes/DVD-Rs. Candidates may not submit "edited" videos, defined as post-production processing of the video itself, or cuts in an otherwise continuous segment. Examples of editing include the elimination of unwanted segments, additional footage, fade-ins and fade-outs, the addition of audio recorded on a device other than the video recorder, and the "blurring" of an image to conceal a face or nametag. In addition, videotape segments may not be created with two or more cameras, giving the tape a "studio" effect.

Yes, amplifying the sound to enhance the audio on a video is acceptable as long as the amplification of the audio does not conflict with the post-production editing guidelines discussed in the FAQ above.

Many early childhood teachers have students who write on large paper in very large handwriting. You may reduce two pages of extra large handwriting to fit onto one letter-size page. Make certain that the writing is still legible.

The one page description does not count toward the page limit and should not be numbered. Please include these pages with the submission of the student writing samples behind the appropriate cover sheet.

No. Laminating artifacts or placing work samples in plastic sleeves hinders the work of the assessors. Please refer to the instructions for submitting artifacts in the section of your instructions entitled "Format Specifications."

No. The entry instructions state that you may submit student work in three forms: dictation and drawing, dictation and writing, or as writing alone.

You may wish to correct your students' spelling if you feel that assessors will have difficulty deciphering the work sample. However, do not change the child's words or punctuation; simply provide assessors with a legible version that is spelled using conventional spelling.

It is up to you to decide. There are no limitations on the maximum period of time artifacts may span. The 8 weeks mentioned is a minimum period of time that student work samples must cover.

Using the title of the work would be most conducive to helping assessors readily identify the components of your entry; on the cover sheets you will identify the student whose work samples are submitted. For example, if the focus of the lesson is on "sentence structure," that could be your title.

The page lengths that follow each section of the Written Commentary component of Entry 1 are merely suggested page lengths and are provided as a guide for you to use as you prepare your Written Commentary. The entire Written Commentary has a 13-page limit that may be divided among the four sections as you deem necessary. If you find that you require more than 5 pages to complete the "Supporting Literacy Development" section, you may need to reduce the length of another section to fall within the total page limit for this component.

Your instructional materials should provide important background context for interpreting the discussion or work produced by students that was examined in or grew out of a class activity. Two of your instructional materials will support your discussion of what came before, during or after the video recorded lesson. Two of your instructional materials will support your discussion of the integration of social studies and the arts. What is important is to select materials that clearly explain the role the arts played in promoting student learning of a social studies topic, concept, or theme.

If you have an artifact that is very lengthy, you may wish to submit a copy of one or two representative pages as your artifact. Another option would be to scan a lengthy document and make computer slides. Six slides will fit onto a single sheet of paper.

Entry 3 is a whole class learning experience. Teachers can arrange the class as they wish, but the learning sequence MUST involve each student, either in a group or individually. Also, there is to be evidence of inquiry, intellectual engagement, discussion, and content in the video and the use of appropriate science and mathematical instructional materials. If your focus is on a particular group of students and the rest of your students are in the periphery, you MUST explain how each student received this same instruction in your Written Commentary.

If you are consulting with an NBCT or previous candidate in this certificate, please note that in the past Entry 3 required a "whole class discussion" as opposed to a "whole class learning sequence," which is now required.

All evidence of your work with students must be gathered during the 12-month period immediately preceding the portfolio deadline.

You are not expected to submit "professional" quality videos/DVDs for the portfolio. However, the video/DVD you submit should allow assessors to hear and understand all of what you say and most of what your students say. NBPTS allows for a 30-second or less technical sound problem on videos submitted in portfolio entries, provided that no substantive information was lost during that time. If this video/DVD meets this requirement, note briefly in your Written Commentary the problem that occurred during filming and that no significant discussion was missed during the technical sound problem.

Yes, both writing assignments should be taken from your teaching within this three-to-four week period of time.

No, the two assignments do not have to be directly related to each other; however, they do need to be related to the teaching you are doing within the instructional sequence (the three-to-four week period of teaching). The section called "Making Good Choices" offers suggestions designed to help you satisfy the scoring criteria for Entry 1.

Yes. The fourth bullet under Student Responses in the "Format Specifications" section of the entry directions states that the student response must "come from students who are in the class that is the basis for your Written Commentary."

Yes, unless specifically stated otherwise, Instructional Materials may be samples of student work. The important point is that your Instructional Materials help assessors understand what occurred during the lesson.

In order to explore a scientific concept or process, the teacher must select a specific topic. The topic selected must be one that can be taught in depth so it can be related to all branches of science and applied to another discipline within the curriculum as specified in the entry instructions. Select a theme in science and a "big idea" that, when studied and explored together, will enrich the understanding of both the selected theme and the "big idea" in science.

The Big Ideas are listed in the "Get Started" section of the portfolio instructions. Examples are Systems, Models, Energy, Evolution, Scale, Structure, Constancy, and Patterns of Change. One of the essential components of higher-order thinking is the ability to think about a whole in terms of its parts and alternatively, about parts in terms of how they relate to one another and to the whole. The Big Ideas revolve more around teaching science concepts that cut across all branches of science. Please keep in mind that NBPTS cannot approve or disapprove of your topic.

Yes, both the rubric and the entry instructions specifically state that you must use a variety of resources, including technology, to enhance student learning about mathematics and science. For the Written Commentary, you are asked to cite specific examples from the lesson that show you and your students interacting with technology.

Your whole class may remain in groups during the lesson, but you will only focus on two of the groups for the fifteen minutes of the video segment. Likewise, your discussion in your Written Commentary will focus on only two groups. If you have excessive video footage on a group that you are not addressing in your Written Commentary, the evidence of your adherence to the standards in your teaching practice may not be clear, convincing, and consistent to the assessors.

If the work was done on large paper with oversized handwriting, you may reduce the pages to fit onto one letter-size page as long as the print is legible to the assessors. If this is not an option, you must select another work sample. For Option B, you may only submit one-page work samples.

Students need not be seen in the context of a classroom group. Teachers working one-on-one, who have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) under federal or state mandated special education laws are eligible to pursue this certificate. In most states the students included under these mandates would be birth to 21. In states where the mandate extends special education beyond age 21, teachers should contact NBPTS prior to applying to determine whether their teaching context meets the eligibility requirements for candidacy.

The IFSP is required by law for teachers providing infant/toddler services. It is the equivalent of the IEP, but because services are required to be family - not child-centered, the law identifies this as an IFSP rather than an IEP.

Teachers of students at all levels have exceptional needs students in their classrooms and must teach the students enrolled in their classes. Featuring your practice with a student with disabilities is not a disadvantage. You are given an opportunity to provide your instructional context in each classroom portfolio entry. If you read the questions for the Written Commentary Section 1: Instructional Context, you will find that you are asked if there are exceptional needs students in your class and you are asked to describe the needs of those students.
Featuring work with a student with exceptionalities can provide fertile material for discussion of how you involve the student in the class, how you use knowledge of the student to provide instruction appropriate to the individual needs of that student, etc. Assessors evaluate the evidence you submit. If you make strong connections between what you write and what assessors see, it can make a very compelling case for your responsiveness to diverse learners. Depending on the entry, it may be the best of choices to feature work with a student with disabilities, especially since increasing numbers of students with disabilities are included in the general education classroom. Remember, it is your actions, analysis and reflection on your teaching, and not the performance of the student, that is assessed.

The relevant requirement for Portfolio Entry 3: Demonstrating and Developing Musicianship is that teachers "model expert musicianship through singing, playing, or conducting within the context of the lesson" featured in the entry. That is, candidates are expected to use their skills as musicians to provide instructional models for their students. Entry 4: Documented Accomplishments may be a place to enter other musical activities as evidence, but candidates are reminded that for this entry all evidence needs to be tied to its impact on student learning. Consult the section of the Documented Accomplishments Entry: "Making Good Choices," before deciding which accomplishments to include. In the context of the assessment center, candidates will be asked to demonstrate other aspects of their musicianship—as diagnosticians, theoreticians, composers, etc.

National Board Certification is designed to assess a teacher's performance in a wide range of classroom settings. We encourage candidates in all certificate areas to use more than one class when completing the portfolio in order to demonstrate the broadest range of their teaching practice. Therefore, music teachers who have multiple classes that meet the age and content requirements should take advantage of the availability of these different classes when completing the classroom-based entries. However, if a music teacher has access to only one class that meets the age and content requirements for their certificate area, it is permissible to use a single class for all three of the classroom-based portfolio entries. Please keep in mind that all three portfolio entries must come from different units and that work samples and artifacts must feature different students. In other words, music teachers will need to show work with different students, at different points of instruction, working with different musical challenges. The Entry Tracking Form can be used to help keep a record of the selections you make as you complete your classroom-based portfolio entries. This form is included in the Organizer on the portfolio CD-ROM.

Candidates will need to consider whether a performance is the best choice for a video recording, since the teacher's skills as a diagnostician, instructor, etc. are being assessed, not the product of the teacher's and students' efforts. While many teachers would like to be judged on the performances of their students, this would create a highly inequitable assessment. It is the teacher's thoughts and actions to affect change in student performance that marks accomplishment for music teachers.

No. Many, perhaps most, EMC candidates will naturally focus their portfolios on their work as general music teachers. This was anticipated in the development of the assessments. When registering for the assessment center, EMC candidates will declare band, orchestra, or vocal music, just as their EAYA counterparts will. This is due to the nature of both Diagnostic Skills and Applied Theory/Composition, where recordings, scores, and candidate compositions are part of the exercises, and need to be specific to a "performing" area.

Yes, Music candidates can change their focus from one specialty area (performance perspective) in response to portfolio entries, to a different specialty area in response to assessment center exercises. Music candidates may also feature more than one area in their portfolio entries. However, Music candidates must focus on only ONE declared specialty area for the assessment center exercises. Music candidates will need to declare their specialty area for the assessment center early in the process. Once they have chosen, they are committed to the same areas when retaking assessment center exercises. Specialty areas available for Music candidates are band, orchestra, or vocal music.

All World Language teachers, including teachers of Heritage language learners, should base their responses to the portfolios on a careful reading of the World Languages Other than English Standards, and of the individual portfolio entries. A World Language teacher who feels that she or he can present evidence of meeting the standards for accomplished World Languages teachers is encouraged to apply. Knowledge of Students is a requirement of all three classroom-based portfolios. Thus, Written Commentary questions in each of the three classroom-based portfolio entries ask the teacher to provide information about her or his teaching context, and her or his students, including knowledge of the students' language background. This is information that assessors will take into account when scoring the portfolios. Teachers of Heritage language learners are thus offered the same opportunity to provide evidence of accomplished teaching as are all other World Language teachers.

Like all National Board certification candidates, World Languages teachers who teach in Spanish immersion programs must give careful consideration to which certificate is right for them. Specifically, these teachers need to consider whether the World Languages Other than English certificate is the most appropriate for their teaching contexts. One of the Generalist or other content specialist certificates, combined with the Spanish Language Option, may be more appropriate for some Spanish immersion teachers. For all WLOE candidates in Spanish or French immersion programs, however, it is important that in their portfolio responses they present evidence of language teaching in the three classroom-based portfolio entries, and that they provide evidence in the Documented Accomplishments Entry of how their work with families and the community as well as colleagues and other professionals has an impact on student language learning.

Candidates in World Languages Other Than English must consistently focus both the portfolio entries and the assessment center exercises in the target language or "Specialty Area" they selected. Your entries will be scored by a World Languages Other than English teacher in this target language. Please remember to indicate your target language on the entry envelopes you will place your entries in for return to the NBPTS Processing Center. If you do not recall which language you selected on your application, you may phone our customer service staff at 1-800-22TEACH.

National Board Certification is designed to assess a teacher's performance in a wide range of classroom settings. We encourage teachers to use more than one class in completing the portfolio in order to demonstrate the broadest range of their teaching practice. Therefore, teachers who have multiple classes that meet the age and content requirements should take advantage of the availability of these different classes when completing the classroom-based entries. However, if a teacher has access to only one class that meets the age and content requirements for their certificate area, it is permissible to use a single class for all three of the classroom-based portfolio entries. Please keep in mind that all three classroom-based portfolio entries must come from different units and that work samples and artifacts must feature different students.

Although the NBPTS Career and Technical Education Standards may not specifically mention all career and technical education fields currently being taught in schools, this does not prohibit any teacher from pursuing this certificate if they believe it is the one most appropriate to their practice. Ultimately, however, this decision is up to the individual teacher. Our recommendation to any teacher—Career and Technical Education teachers included—is to study the Standards carefully in the certificate field, as well as the demands of the entries and exercises to determine if the entries and exercises will allow them to demonstrate their highest level of accomplished teaching practice.

Although some of the Standards cover Middle Childhood through Early Adolescence Mathematics, at this time, a mathematics certificate area for the Middle Childhood developmental level is not scheduled for development. However, our recommendation to you is to study the Early Childhood/Generalist and Middle Childhood/Generalist certificate area overviews. If your teaching practice meets these descriptions, carefully study the standards and the demands of the entries and exercises to see if the entries and exercises will allow you to demonstrate your highest level of accomplished teaching practice.

At this time, the National Board does not offer a certificate specific to speech and language specialists, and has no plans for developing standards for this area of practice. It is possible that speech and language specialists may qualify for National Board Certification based on a review of the Exceptional Needs Specialist standards and their particular teaching context. Our recommendation is to carefully study the standards and the demands of the entries and exercises, as well as the level of content knowledge required, to see if the entries and exercises will allow you to demonstrate your highest level of accomplished teaching practice. In order to apply, a speech therapist must have a license issued by the state's Department of Education.

In the certificate framework, the National Board did not envision Gifted and Talented as part of the Exceptional Needs Specialist category. As a matter of licensing, some states include Gifted and Talented under special education, as does the Council for Exceptional Children. At the time that Gifted and Talented became part of Board discussion, a compelling case was not made for Gifted and Talented in the certificates already outlined. At a meeting of state department of education and support program representatives (the National Board Academy) a number of educators familiar with Gifted and Talented programs had the opportunity to review the Exceptional Needs Standards and an overview of the portfolio specifications. It was their opinion that teachers in the area of Gifted and Talented would find a much better fit in the content or generalist certificates. As always, the best advice is for Gifted and Talented teachers to examine the standards and certificate overviews pages of the Guide to National Board Certification to determine which certificate is the best fit based on their backgrounds of experience.

You do not need to wait until your box of materials arrives to begin work on your portfolio. You can immediately download the standards and the portfolio instructions for your certificate and begin studying the standards and reviewing the requirements for the portfolio entries. You can then begin planning for lessons and students you wish to feature in your classroom-based entries. Remember that all evidence of your work with students must be gathered during the 12-month period prior to your portfolio deadline.

The Early Childhood through Young Adulthood/School Counseling certificate is appropriate for counselors who work with students in preK-12th grade educational settings. Candidates must have access to a whole class, a small group, and an individual student, in which the student(s) are in grades preK-12 (ages 3-18+) during the period of time you collect evidence for your entries.

The School Counseling Standards were developed by a committee of school counselors and other educators with expertise in the field tasked to define outstanding practice in the field of school counseling. An examination of the composition of the School Counseling Standards Committee reveals that its members consisted of a majority of practicing school counselors and other educators who work or have worked as counselor educators over many years. The complete listing of the members of the School Counseling Standards Committee along with the positions they held while serving on the committee can be found in the back of the standards document.

Candidates in administrative positions or those serving the adult learner community may pursue National Board Certification only if they are able to provide evidence of classroom work with pre-K through 12 students. Candidates for ECYA/School Counseling must have access to a whole class, a small group, and an individual student drawn from grades preK-12 (ages 3-18+) during the term of candidacy. The 18+ age designation does not apply to college students, the "+" applies to those students in school who do not graduate at age 18. The standards apply to students working towards high school degrees or equivalent—as compared to community college.