Pursue Board Certification in 2021-2022
Requirements for Exceptions and Portfolio Submission during COVID-19 for First Time and Retake Candidates (who did not defer)
The National Board is committed to ensuring you have flexibility for successfully completing and submitting portfolio components during a time when COVID-19 has far-reaching impacts on professional and personal lives. A complete list will be maintained here of all approved exceptions specific to COVID-19, and allowances we will make for all candidates going forward.
As always, each candidate will make individual choices about how to collect the best evidence possible at this particular time.
Be assured that we are committed to upholding the integrity of National Board Certification at the same time as we are committed to maximizing your opportunities for success. National Board Certification will remain a signal that National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) have demonstrated they meet accomplished teaching standards and positively impact student learning. These guidelines have been determined in consultation with candidates, NBCTs, and outside testing experts. The Five Core Propositions, certificate-specific Standards, component instructions, and the scoring rubrics used to assess your work all remain unchanged.
The Five Core Propositions, certificate-specific Standards, component instructions used to develop and submit your evidence, and the scoring rubrics used to assess your work all remain unchanged. Portfolios not having all the required materials (videos, forms, etc.) will not be scored and you will receive a code of NS on your score report instead of a numerical score.
| The following guidance is provided to certification candidates in need of flexibility for successfully completing and submitting their portfolio components in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you deferred a component in 2020-2021, please visit this page for additional guidance.
Portfolios not having all the required materials (videos, forms, components, etc.) will not be scored and you will receive a code of NS on your score report instead of a numerical score. |
Retakes
For Retakes of portfolio components, the student work samples or video recordings contained in a retake component must be completely new and original, i.e., not identical or amended versions from any component previously submitted. See the Scoring Guide for more information.
If you do not adhere to this rule, your component will not be scorable and you will receive a code of NS on your score report instead of a numerical score.
Variety of Evidence
The variety of evidence requirements for initial certification candidates remain the same. They were in place before the pandemic and will continue. Requirements can be found in both the General Portfolio Instructions and certificate-specific portfolio component instructions for initial certification candidates.
In particular, video(s) are required and must meet requirements stated in the certificate-specific portfolio component instructions. For example, Component 3 videos for initial certification must show different instructional units, and the contents of the two videos combined must represent different instructional formats and different teaching strategies. You are not required to feature more than one instructional format or teaching strategy in a single video, although you may. You must be sure, however, that the combined contents of your two videos represent a breadth of the content area and show at least two different instructional formats (i.e., large group, small group, one-on-one, classroom, laboratory, or other configuration that is appropriate for your situation) and two different teaching strategies.
Note: I see that you addressed it below so you could disregard my suggestion or add a quick reference to the video section below.
Evidence Collected Online
Some candidates have asked whether they can use evidence collected online for their student work samples, summative assessment materials and data for Components 2 and 4, and other components. You are allowed to submit evidence collected online; however, you should carefully consider the extent to which a sudden transition of your classroom to an online environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic allows you to demonstrate the principles in the rubrics for those components.
Component 4 requires candidates to use assessments for formative and summative purposes with the same class of students for which you have developed the group profile. You are allowed to submit evidence of assessments administered online; however, you should carefully consider the extent to which a sudden transition of your classroom to an online environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic allows you to demonstrate sound assessment principles in the Component 4 rubric.
You might consider, for example, the extent to which your online assessment is appropriate for formative or summative purposes. You might also consider the extent to which you can get an accurate sense of student progress or set new learning goals based on the analysis of assessment results in a new learning environment that could be very different from the one in which the formative assessments were given.
Formatting Your Evidence for Electronic Submission
You will develop evidence using the format requirements in the certificate-specific Portfolio Instructions and Scoring Rubric for each component if you are a candidate for initial certification. You will upload your portfolio components in electronic format to the electronic portfolio management system. Be sure to pay close attention to the stated page limits, video time limits, and video editing and audio enhancement rules as there will be no exceptions allowed.
Class Composition
Consult the instructions for your certificate area for all class composition guidelines. If you do not adhere to the class composition requirements for your certificate area, your component will not be scorable and you will receive a code of NS on your score report instead of a numerical score.
Age
This requirement was in place before the pandemic and will continue.
The requirement that at least 51% of the students in the class(es) that you use to complete your portfolio components must be within the stated age range for the certificate area during the period in which you collect evidence for your portfolio will be upheld. This requirement is in place because National Board Certification is specific to students in a particular developmental level and content area. Refer to the component instructions for your certificate area.
Rostered Class – Exception
This exception applies to initial and retake certification candidates submitting Components 2 and/or 3 in 2022. It does not apply to Component 4. This exception will not continue after the pandemic.
Students can now be drawn from more than one of your or another teacher’s rostered classes from the regular school day and school year in order to form a class or group. Students may not be drawn from non-rostered groups such as a tutoring group, after-school program, or club.
The instructions for some certificate areas such as Music and School Counseling may state exceptions, so follow your certificate area instructions–except “rostered class” now means you can draw from multiple rostered classes to form one class or group.
Number of Students
Portfolio instructions often do not state a required minimum number of students and therefore allow for less than full class (e.g., if permission for the student to be included in your work was not granted). Consult the instructions in your certificate area. There are a few components in a few certificate areas that do require a minimum number of students in the instructions.
Filming Videos
Editing for Anonymity – Exception
This exception applies to initial candidates submitting in 2022. This exception will not continue after the pandemic.
Candidates should try to preserve anonymity throughout their entire portfolio, including their videos, in accordance with the General Portfolio Instructions and component instructions. Candidates using video of virtual classroom(s) should do their best to set up the video so that only students’ or adults’ first names are displayed in the video.
However, if you are unable to remove personal identifiers despite all reasonable efforts, submitting a video with personal identifiers will not impact the review of the submission. Do not blur or use black boxes to cover students’ names as this is considered a non-allowable edit. If a candidate is unable to remove personal identifiers, for any reason, the candidate should submit the video without making any edits to cover names. Editing videos to remove personal identifiers is not an allowed edit.
Layout of Virtual Classroom Videos– Allowance
This allowance applies to videos created for initial and retake certification components. It reflects exceptions that were allowed in the past and will continue to be allowed for all candidates in the future.
Videos of virtual classrooms no longer have to be split screen. Videos of virtual classrooms can be a split screen recording, a platform-provided recording (Google Meet, MS Teams, etc.), or a video made with a camera/phone/tablet that captures the teacher at the computer with students on the screen. Regardless of the way in which a candidate chooses to film a virtual classroom, it will be important to show interaction between the teacher and students, as well as among the students. If this interaction is not clearly seen in the video, the result will be more limited evidence for assessors to score. See instructions and tips on recording in the instructions.
Visibility – No change
For initial and retake certification candidates, here are the guidelines about visibility in the Component 3 instructions. Your portfolio component will not be scored if you fail to meet these requirements:
- The videos should show as much of the class as possible, but it is acceptable to focus on a particular student while he or she is talking. Use a camera angle that includes as many faces of the students in the class as possible.
- You and your students must be seen and heard in both videos. It is important for assessors to be able to see and hear you and your students interacting, your students interacting with each other, your students’ reactions to what you are doing, and their engagement in learning. Lessons conducted asynchronously are not an acceptable form of evidence, because they do not contain these interactions.
For Music candidates completing Component 2, the instructions do not require you to be visible in the video segments. Music candidates should follow instructions in Recording Your Video Segments.
Breakout Rooms
If you are recording a virtual lesson, you can include breakout rooms in your video provided the recording is continuous and unedited. Moving from the whole group to virtual breakout rooms is similar to transitioning from the whole group to a small group during in-person instruction. Editing the video because you and/or your students are moving to a breakout room is not an allowable edit. See instructions for further information.
Face Masks
This guidance applies to initial and retake certification candidates. Face masks and/or shields are allowed. They were allowed before the pandemic and will continue to be.
Forms
Release Forms– Allowance
This allowance applies to initial and retake candidates. It reflects exceptions that were allowed in the past and will continue to be allowed for all candidates in the future.
For each of the three portfolio components, you are required to seek and receive permission to use images and some of the materials you include in your portfolio. Candidates may accept Adult and Student Release forms via email and/or with electronic signature in the event they cannot collect hand-signed physical copies. Candidates may create their own forms, but they must use the same language used on the National Board’s Release Forms. Candidates may choose to use these google forms.
Additional Resources