Frequently Asked Questions
MISCELLANEOUS PORTFOLIO QUESTIONS
1. Do I need to
have a studentĂs parent/legal guardian sign more than one release
form if I teach in a self-contained classroom or if the student
is in more than one of the classes I intend to feature in my portfolio?
No. As long as you have one original
Student Release Form signed by a studentĂs parent or legal guardian,
you may make copies as necessary for use in other entries.
2. Do student work
samples, verification forms and artifacts have to be typed and double-spaced,
or can these items be handwritten?
Follow all specifications in the portfolio
entry directions for presentation of written material. Obviously,
student work will not always be typed, and you cannot ensure that
persons filling out Verification Forms will use a typewriter. You
should use your best judgement when filling out forms and labeling
artifacts. The main concern for assessors is that all written materials,
whether typewritten or handwritten, are neat and legible.
3. What happens
if I submit an incomplete portfolio?
If you do not submit all six portfolio
entries, those entries that you do submit will be scored. You will
have to pay an additional fee to submit the other entries during
a subsequent cycle. If you submit an entry that is incomplete and
cannot be scored because it is missing a critical component, such
as the Written Commentary, student work samples, or the videotape,
the entry will not be scored. You will have to pay an additional
fee to resubmit the entry during a subsequent cycle.
4. Will NBPTS extend
the deadline of my portfolio if I have a death in my family or if
I become ill?
No. Please note that although NBPTS
recognizes that candidates may have a personal crisis, such as a
death in the family or serious illness, and we sympathize with the
candidateĂs situation, it is not possible to allow candidates extensions
of the deadline. Scoring of the portfolios begins almost immediately
after the portfolios from all candidates have arrived and been checked
in. It is not feasible at this time to score a portfolio outside
of the normal scoring window. Since the portfolios are available
for at least five months before the portfolio deadline, candidates
have time to complete their work if they begin working on the portfolio
when they receive it. Candidates who become seriously ill during
the process should consider withdrawing from the process for that
cycle; if they withdraw before the portfolio due date, they will
receive a refund minus the $300 processing fee. Completing the portfolio
requires a great deal of energy and effort, and NBPTS does not recommend
that a seriously ill candidate undertake this process. If candidates
feel they cannot meet the deadline but have completed some entries,
they may submit for scoring those entries they have completed and
apply to retake the rest during the next cycle.
5. Is my topic for
a lesson acceptable? Is the Big Idea in Science I have chosen acceptable?
NBPTS does not automatically approve
or disapprove of topics. If a suggested topic is manifestly not
what the entry instructs, NBPTS will simply inform you that the
topic does not appear to meet the entry requirements. For example,
if an entry requires that your instruction combine social studies
with the arts, and your suggested topic instead combines math and
science, the reply that you would get is that the topic does not
appear to meet the entry requirements. NBPTS cannot comment on whether
your lesson topic is "good" or "bad." You are
the person who is most familiar with your students and your teaching
situation; it is up to you to determine if a particular lesson and/or
instructional strategy is appropriate for your students at this
point.
Similarly, NBPTS cannot help you choose
which Big Idea in Science to use in an entry that requires one.
The only response you can obtain is to be told that either your
Big Idea is or is not listed in the tables of major ideas in science
included in the science content standards section of Getting Started.
6. Can candidates
submit student work that was completed during the first semester
of school?
Candidates may submit student work
samples from any part of the calendar school year that corresponds
with their portfolio cycle.
7. Can mentors share
portfolios with candidates?
Mentors may choose to "share"
their portfolios with candidates; however, they should not allow
them to be copied. It is important to note that one portfolio represents
only one path to certification and is not a blueprint for the process.
As an added caution, lessons that one mentor used may have been
appropriate for his/her students, but not appropriate for a different
set of students. NBPTS is not looking for a particular lesson or
activity for teachers to submit for each entry. There are no "right"
lessons or "magic bullets" in completing the portfolio,
and a current candidate should not attempt to simulate lessons or
instructional strategies of a candidate who has already achieved
certification based on the assumption that using the same lessons
or instructional strategies will also result in achieving certification.
8. Do my Verification
Forms have to be submitted in a sealed envelope?
No, the Verification Forms do not have
to be submitted in a special sealed envelope. You may be told otherwise
by someone who went through the certification process a few years
ago, when sealed envelopes were required for these forms. NBPTS
no longer requires them to be sealed because unsealing the envelopes
would cause significant delays in scoring, given the volume of candidates
going through the certification process.
9. What should I
do if my name has changed?
The portfolio requires candidates to
submit a photocopy of their ID. If your name has changed, send in
a copy of a photo ID for both of your names. Also, please send in
a statement declaring that you changed your name from ___________
to ___________ on this date.
10. Is it acceptable
to reproduce some of the portfolio forms on my computer?
You may scan forms included in the
portfolio such as the Verification Form, the Communication Log,
Cover Sheets, and the Classroom Layout Sheet.
11. If students
are over 18, can they sign their own release forms?
Students over 18 may sign their own
release forms as long as they are recognized as legal adults by
the state. If they have a disability that makes it impossible for
them to sign their own release form, then the parents/guardians
should sign the form.
12. Who has to
sign the Adult Release Form?
This form is for adults who appear
in your videotapes or in photographs that you submit as part of
your portfolio. Typically, such adults might be student teachers,
teacher aides, etc. who may routinely be in your classroom and would
be in a videotape or photograph. You must obtain signed release
forms from any adult who is featured in a videotape or photograph
that you want to submit. Please note that it is not necessary to
obtain a release form from adults who appear in photographs that
have already been published. For example, if you are submitting
a newspaper clipping that includes a photograph of you and your
colleagues participating in an activity, you do not have to obtain
a release form for the people in the already published photograph.
13. In the past
teachers with students who had significant impairments could only
achieve certification as Generalists. Now that the Exceptional Needs
certificate is available; will a candidate be penalized if he/she
applies as a Generalist but should really be an Exceptional Needs
candidate?
No technical procedure has been violated;
however, teachers of students with exceptional needs should consider
the scoring instrument in this situation. Every assessor for NBPTS
has been chosen because of his/her field of expertise. Assessors
in a certificate area not specific to Exceptional Needs do not necessarily
have the expertise required to evaluate the performances of Exceptional
Needs candidates. It is difficult for assessors to apply the rubric
when they are presented with unfamiliar techniques. A teaching strategy
for students with significant impairments might be completely inappropriate
for regular students and vice versa. These and many other considerations
must be taken into account before the choice of certificate is made.
14. If the Scoring
Guide for any new certificate is released after the certificate
has been scored, then how can assessors score the certificate?
The scoring guide for any certificate
area contains the scoring rubrics that have been finalized after
the first full cycle of scoring has taken place. The four new certificates
(Exceptional Needs, Vocational Education and English as a New Languages-both
EMC & EAYA) in the 1999-00 cycle will complete their initial
scoring this summer and the rubrics will not be finalized until
then. The new Scoring Guides will be mailed out with the score reports
on or before March 31, 2001. Nevertheless, all portfolios, regardless
of their scoring status, contain rubrics. A level 4 score (the highest
score) is accessible for all candidates. This bulleted list may
be found in each entry in the section entitled "How Will My Response
Be Scored."
15. Are the questions
in the Scoring Guide the same ones that will be asked at the assessment
this summer?
The prompts that appear in the scoring
guide are "released prompts" from previous cycles. They are not
necessarily the prompts that will be given to candidates this year.
The booklet describes the general scoring system that was used to
score performances and gives information about the rubrics that
assessors used to score the portfolio entries and Assessment Center
exercises.
16. Should an entry
for the Exceptional Needs portfolio be supported by a student being
served under Section 504?
NBPTS has always recognized that most
special education teachers do work with students that need a "little
extra" help and not just with students with IEP's; however, for
the purposes of National Board Certification, it is recommended
that candidates in the Exceptional Needs area should support their
entries with work from students who do have an Individualized Education
Plan.
17. For Exceptional
Needs and Vocational Education, may I support one entry with the
work of students from one specialty area and another entry with
the work of students from an entirely different specialty area?
Yes, these candidates have the option
of supporting each portfolio entry with the work of students from
different specialty areas. For example, candidates in Exceptional
Needs may support Entry One with the work of students from the Mild/Moderate
cluster while supporting Entry 2 with the work of students in the
Severe/Multiple cluster. Candidates are reminded that they must
commit to one pathway for the assessment exercises.
18. A colleague
and I teach on the same team. We create lessons and rubrics together.
Will our performances be disqualified or scored down because of
this?
NBPTS recognizes that team teachers
often share the same classroom, students, rubrics, and lessons.
This would not automatically disqualify the performance of a candidate
who is a member of a teaching team. However, team teachers must
keep in mind that although they may be submitting the exact same
assignment/prompts, their analyses, student work artifacts, and
videotapes must be completely original.
19. Should I refer
to or mention each standard listed for a particular portfolio entry?
Candidates do not have to refer directly
to each standard, although it is acceptable to do so. The standards
booklet for the certificate area is the first document that assessors
study before formal training even begins. By the time of scoring,
they are able to internalize and apply NBPTS Standards as critical
evaluative dimensions. Assessors look for evidence that the candidate
has actually met the standards in his/her teaching. Keep in mind
that the page allowance for any Written Commentary is limited and
should be saved for a deep analysis of instruction.
20. What are the
rules regarding featuring different lessons in each entry?
Each of the classroom-based portfolio
entries must be supported by different units or lessons. NBPTS has
included an Entry Tracking Form in the portfolio Introduction to
help you ensure that the units featured in your entries do not overlap.
In addition to featuring different lessons and units, the student
responses must involve different students. In other words, no group
of student responses can be taken from a unit or lesson that is
featured in any other entry.
21. Are my units
and lessons acceptable? How do I know if my unit is different enough
to support its own entry?
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. It is up to the candidate
to decide if the lesson is thematically different enough to support
its own classroom-based entry. Please note that many candidates
support long instructional periods and even semesters with one unit.
In this case, "units" are divided into different divisions. These
divisions would constitute a separate lesson or unit and would be
acceptable by NBPTS tracking regulations. Again, it is up to the
candidate to decide if his/her entries are being supported by different
units or lessons.
22. Is it okay
to use a psychology class for the Adolescence through Young Adulthood/Social
Studies-History portfolio?
NBPTS cannot make the decision for
a candidate whether or not to use certain classes in support of
their portfolio work. Past candidates have utilized speech classes
for the Language Arts certificates and psychology classes in supporting
the AYA/Social Studies-History certificate. If the class is obviously
not within the content parameters (for example, the performance
illustrates science subject matter only when it should reflect an
art lesson), the entry would not be scored. No permission would
guarantee success for an entry supported by an "elective" class
such as psychology or speech. If a candidate chooses to support
an entry with a class of this type, it would be scored like any
other performance. Ultimately though, it is up to the candidate
to address the instructions, requirements and the standards for
each entry which determine a successful score.
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