Reflections on the national board certification process:

• Thoughts on the National Board Process
• The NBPTS Standards
• The Reflective Process
• The Social Studies Portfolio
• The Assessment Center
• Decisions To Be Made
• Reflecting on the Process

When I first heard about national board certification, I was somewhat skeptical and did not think it was for me. Was it another “new idea” in education that would be around a few years and then be replaced with another “new idea?” I also felt that I was too far along in my career to seek additional certification. I already had advanced degrees; what more did I need?

I began seriously considering certification when the social studies area was added in 1999. I had talked with other teachers about the process and the portfolio. I also liked the challenge of being in a “pioneer group”—the first year of a new certification area. I made up my mind in August to pursue certification.

In addition, North Carolina has a very generous incentive program that supports teachers through the process and rewards them upon earning certification. The state paid my application fee and gave me three days of release time to work on certification. North Carolina pays an additional 12 percent salary increase to national board certified teachers.

After the application process, I remember receiving in the mail in late November a box containing my portfolio information and the NBPTS social studies standards. I recall thinking to myself, “Here is my life for the next five months!” I opened the box, leafed through the pages quickly, then put it aside until I could devote some time to initially read through it carefully.

National board certification is based on five core principles of teaching and twelve content area standards. The number one piece of advice one hears from the outset is, “read the standards, read the standards, and then read them again.”

All the portfolio entries and the Assessment Center activities are based on the standards. It is most important that you not only know the standards but that you internalize the standards so they become the basis for what you do and are reflected in your writing.

The NBPTS social studies standards are both generic and specific. The generic standards address the teachers’ knowledge of students, valuing diversity, and knowledge of subject matter. They also address learning environments, assessment, reflection, family partnerships, and professional contributions.

Specific to social studies are standards on promoting social understanding, developing civic competence, and advancing disciplinary knowledge and understanding. Geography, of course, is one of the five disciplines of the social studies standards. My social studies curriculum is heavily based in geography, and I used geographic lessons in several of my portfolio entries.

Adding another set of standards to my teaching at first seemed daunting. I already use the National Council for Geography Education’s Standard Course of Study as my curriculum and Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards as the basis for my teaching. In practice, I found that the NBPTS standards complemented those standards I already use in my classroom.

Perhaps the greatest adjustment I had to make was adding the dimension of reflective thinking and writing. Like most teachers, I am a planner. I plan units of study and lessons, teach them, lead students through learning activities, and then assess student learning. Then the process is repeated for the next unit. Most teachers are already thinking about what needs to be done next as previous work is winding down. Teachers, by practice, are not reflective. The national board process requires that teachers reflect on what has been taught, how the students responded, and what changes need to be made in light of student work.

Setting learning goals for lessons and implementing instruction came easy. The biggest adjustment I had to make throughout the certification process was taking time for analysis and reflection. Analysis was two-fold: analysis of student work and analysis of teaching practices. This analysis had to lead to reflecting both on student learning and the effectiveness of the instructional design. Based on that reflection, I then identified changes that would make the lesson better and show what I learned about my students’ learning.

Teachers tend to find it easy to describe a lesson—to tell what they did and how they did it. Analysis and reflection come a little harder. The national board process stresses the latter. About one-third of the writing is descriptive; the other two-thirds is analysis and reflection.

The social studies portfolio consists of six written entries. Four are classroom-based entries, two involving student work samples and two involving videotaped classes. The other two entries ask teachers to document their work outside the classroom, noting what the accomplishments are and why they are significant. One of these entries documents working with students’ families and the community; the other documents working with professional colleagues and organizations.

The four classroom-based portfolio entries are the heart of the national board process. Each requires the teacher to present a sample of their actual classroom practices. The topics of these four entries are the following:

• Teaching Reasoning Through Writing: how teachers use writing to support interdisciplinary learning goals in social studies. This entry requires three separate assignments by two students.
• Making Real-World Connections: Teachers demonstrate how important concepts in social studies engage students in making significant connections to instruction. This entry requires two assignments by two students.
• Facilitating Whole Class Discussion: This entry requires a 20-minute videotape of a lesson that demonstrates initiating and facilitating a whole class discussion on a major social studies topic.
• Fostering Small Group Interactions: This entry requires a 20-minute videotape of a lesson in which small groups engage in collaborative learning.

These four entries require the teacher to provide a written commentary, analysis of student work or the video lesson, and reflection on the classroom practices. Each portfolio entry has specific instructions that guide the teacher through.

The two documented accomplishments entries require verification of teacher practices in working with students’ families and making contributions to the teaching profession through collaboration with other professionals and professional organizations.

The Assessment Center activities are four 90-minute sessions that examine the teacher’s knowledge of content and teaching practices. These are completed in one day at a facility such as a Sylvan Learning Center. The areas of the assessment vary, some requiring demonstration of knowledge in social studies, others involving creating lessons from material sent earlier and reaction to professional readings.

If you are considering national board certification, you need to make some basic decisions. First, do you have the time to complete the process? Count on 120 to 200 hours of work concentrated in a four to six month period of time. Time management is important. If you have small children or older parents to care for, or if there are significant distractions in your life, you may wish to reconsider and postpone national board certification until a later date.

Secondly, you need to choose the certificate area you want to pursue. Social studies, science, English-language arts, and generalist are but a few. You will also need to select a certificate area based on the ages of the students you teach. At present, social studies certification is offered in Early Adolescence and Adolescence-Young Adult areas.

Finally, when you get your portfolio materials, take time to read the standards (several times) and the requirements of each portfolio entry. Make notes as you read on what lessons you already do that may work with each entry. Look for a good fit between a lesson you like and feel is successful and the requirements of the portfolio entry and the specific NBPTS standards stressed in that entry.

I found that many of my geography lessons were a good fit with the portfolio entries. My students examined energy resources in the “Teaching Reasoning through Writing” entry. I used the multi-ethnic region of the former Yugoslavia as the basis for the whole group discussion video entry.

For the “Making Real World Connections” entry I chose a lesson that compares the make-up of the labor force in developing and developed countries. I also found the five skills of geography from Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards were most useful in many of the lesson applications.

Begin record-keeping early, especially for the two documented accomplishments entries. Keep a record of contacts with parents and families. Keep copies of newsletters and other formal ways you communicate with families. Document your outreach into the community. Begin a list of all the professional organizations of which you are a member. List contributions you make to those organizations in terms of programs, presentations, and service. Contact your state’s Geographic Alliance and seek ways to help with workshops, publications, or educational outreach. Document also the ways in which you mentor other teachers, collaborate with your colleagues, and develop curriculum materials.

Seek ways to network with other teachers. Ask questions of those who have completed the process. Ask them to read a portfolio entry and offer suggestions. Take advantage of formal and informal support groups. Many professional organizations offer workshops on national board certification. Check with your state Geographic Alliance to see if they offer support. Some state social studies councils offer support. Establish an informal support group of teachers in your school or district. Meet periodically with candidates and certified teachers to share ideas and to read each other’s entries.

I found the national board process rewarding—at least I can say that now. There were many times that I wondered why I started the process! In the end, however, I have come to realize the value of the process. To intentionally examine your teaching practices and to evaluate your lessons and the impact they have on students is not routinely done.

The national board certification process helps you see your teaching practices in a new light. It affirms your good practices and helps you find new ways to improve on lessons you teach and how you teach them. The process also strengthens your analyzation of student work.

The national board certification process is a worthwhile endeavor. It provides teachers an opportunity to look intentionally at their teaching practices and to reflect on both content and pedagogy. It is a process that I find myself returning to; I continue to reflect more intentionally than I did before.

I see certification as another way teachers can become better leaders. They are sought out to counsel other teachers pursuing certification and are seen as leaders in their districts and states. I believe it is another way to further the teaching profession and to help continue to promote exemplary teaching practices and further the discipline of geography and social studies.