Recruitment

Direct Recruiting Efforts to Attract Minorities Team

The Direct Recruiting Efforts to Attract Minorities (DREAM) Team program is serving as the catalyst for teachers of color to become candidates for National Board Certification in ways that the established, traditional infrastructures had not been able to do so. The primary goal of the DREAM Team project is to increase the number of candidates of color pursuing National Board Certification, with its secondary goal to expose candidates of color to high standards of teaching, encourage reflective analysis about teaching practice, and provide a higher quality of professional development in underserved communities. The DREAM Team project will also help retain candidates of color, sustain support for them in target sites and low-performing school districts and inform the work of constituencies who are committed to serving minorities and addressing adverse impact.

DREAM Team sites are chosen by NBPTS based on the following criteria:

• Access to candidate support and readiness to support new candidates
• High populations of teachers of color and a disproportionate number of NBCTs of color
• States and/or local districts offer financial incentives to NBCTs and may provide candidate fee support to candidates
• Evidence of a strong desire by the state, local district or region to increase the number of minority teachers pursuing and achieving National Board Certification.

Now NBCTs of all backgrounds and communities can be apart of the DREAM Team efforts. Through NBCTLink, NBCTs can obtain resources, participate in focused discussions and collaborate across geographies to ensure students of all communities are taught by an accomplished teacher.

In fall 2008, NBPTS will launch the “Each One/Reach One” recruitment campaign in partnership with HP in selected school districts across the country. NBCTs of color will be encouraged to recommend a colleague to pursue full National Board certification or Take One!. The goals of this campaign are to develop a diverse candidate pool by developing a sense of community and among NBCTs and prospective candidates, link National Board standards to district and personal goals, and to reduce obstacles to candidacy.