National Board Council of New York   

Candidacy

Getting Started as a NBC Candidate
Begin by determining the National Board certificate area which best fits your professional goals and your practice by visiting NBPTS. Almost everything you need can be directly downloaded without cost.

To be eligible for National Board Certification, educators must:
(a) hold a baccalaureate degree
(b) have at least 3 years appropriate teaching experience
(c) hold a valid state teaching certificate OR teach in a state approved private school

The NBPTS Question and Answer booklet is also extremely helpful to candidates and administrators as a quick overview of the process.

Funding
Apply for National Board Certification on-line before applying for the Shanker Grant. Record the candidate identification number and make an extra confidental copy. The candidate identification number will be needed for the Shanker Grant application. "The Box" containing your NBC materials will arrive about three weeks after applying to NBPTS. Do NOT throw out the box. Your portfolio entries will be submitted in the box.

The Shanker Grant administered by the New York State Education Department will cover the $2,500 cost of NBC. To be eligible Albert Shanker Grant Candidates MUST
(a) currently teach in a NYS public school
(b) hold a valid New York State teaching certificate
(c) hold tenure
(d) hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university

Sanford Lake is the New York State Education Department Program Administrator of the Shanker Grant. You can contact him at:
Office of Teaching Initiatives
New York State Education Department
5 North, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234
Phone: (518) 473-9847
Fax: (518) 473-0217
Email:  slake@mail.nysed.gov

See below for additional funding available for retake candidates and renewal candidates.

NYSUT has lobbied on behalf of teachers for continued support of the Albert Shanker Grant. We are grateful that the AlbertShanker Grant all eligle teachers in NYS have equal opportunity to pursue National Board Certification. NYSUT has an Informational Bulletin about NBC.

Support
Sustained support for teachers in the certification process truly enhances the experience. A regional cohort or support group can be formed so that teachers are not working in isolation, but benefit from working with colleagues. Teachers have spoken highly of the importance of collegial support from precandidacy through achievement of certification by giving and receiving constructive feedback. Check to see if there is a support group in your area by contacting a New York State Teacher Center near in your area.

School districts can support candidates by providing:

• release days for writing or support group meetings
• technical support for videotaping
• laptop
• camcorder
• pzm microphone
• clerical assistance with copying
• shipping cost
• resource materials
• videotapes
• inservice credit for support group hours
  
  
  

• National Board Support Groups in New York State
  NYS Teacher Center Network	Support Group	CSPs/NBCTs	Email
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Capital Region	Dana Cadman Melissa Gergen	dana_c19@yahoo.com gergenm@guilderlandschools.org
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Urban	Rita Floess	CarstenFlo@aol.com
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Union Graduate College	Rich Laselle Catherine Snyder	lasseller@guilderlandschools.org snyderc@union.edu
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Catskill Region	Corbette Russell Donna Trunzo	russell@cairodurham.org trunzo@cairodurham.org
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	North Country	Susan Moore-Palumbo Judy Moffitt	palumbos@sgfalls.org moffittj@sgfalls.org
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Saratoga CSD	Tom & Maureen Shiland	mshilan1@nycap.rr.com
  Eastern Upstate GCRTC	Queensbury- Take One	Cynthia Freed	cfreed@queensburyschools.org
  Eastern Upstate Schenectady	Schenectady City Schools	Dan Brudos Chris Chank Roger Gaboury	Brudosd@schenectady.k12.ny.us Chankc@schenectady.k12.ny.us Gabouryr@schenectady.k12.us
  Eastern Upstate St. Lawrence	St. Lawrence TC	Dr. Linda Seramur Cassidy Mattimore	seramull@potsdam.edu mattimorcj@potsdam.edu
  Eastern Upstate Holland Patent	Holland Patent CSD	Nancy Keetz	nkeetz@hpschools.org ppeterson@hpschools.org
  Farwest Niagara Falls	Niagara Region	Susan Rhodenizer	srhodenizer@nfschools.org
  Farwest	Southtowns TC	Mary Ann Dates Greg Cole	mdates@hamburgschools.org
  Greater Rochester	Fairport TC	Trudy Bantle John O'Gorman	bantle1@rochester.rr.com
  Long Island	Oceanside	Jennifer Wolfe	jwolfe@oceanside.k12.ny.us
  Long Island	Inter-County Resource Center	Mary Ann Agusta	maugusta@nyit.edu
  Long Island	Rockville	Maureen Dockery	mdockery@rvcschools.org
  Lower Hudson Newburgh	Newburgh	Ann Marie Healy Thomas Neppl
  Lower Hudson	Professional Portfolios/ELT	Helene Aloufe
  Southern Tier	Oneonta	Mary Ann Luciano	LUCIANMA@oneonta.edu
  Southern Tier	Cortland TC	Bonnie Calzolaio

Retreats
Candidates benefit from extended, focused time to concentrate on National Board work. The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center provides time in the summer to begin group work and time in January to work on writing at the Rensselaerville Institute. Groups make their own work schedules but typically meet every month for about four hours. Most candidates spend about 100 hrs in support group and 200-400 hrs on their own.

Writing Retreat at Minnowbrook Conference Center January 2008

Starting The Portfolio
The NEA/AFT 2008 Candidate's Guide is a very useful resource for candidates and candidate support providers. The National Board’s work is guided by five core propositions that articulate what teachers should know and be able to do. This expression of ideals guides the development of the National Board’s standards and assessment. Using these core propositions as a foundation, NBPTS standards further detail what constitutes accomplished teaching in 24 subject areas and for students at all stages of their development.The influence of the NBPTS standards is pervasive throughout the National Board Certification process. They form the basis for the performance-based assessments that are at the heart of the National Board Certification system. They drive the structure of the assessment exercises as well as the scoring rubrics.

It is essential to download these three documents specific to your certification area:
1. The Standards 2. The Scoring Guide 3. The Portfolio Guidelines

We recommend printing these with a laser printer because some of these documents are hundreds of pages each.
By reading, highlighting, and summarizing the Standards, teachers begin to uncover the essential standards for their particular certification area.

Here are some great tips for candidates from our NBCT friends in Illinois.

 

Assessment Center
Candidates can take the Assessment Center exericises at any time during their Assessment Window. It is important to take this portion of the process as seriously as the portfolio. It is worth 40% of the score. NBC candidates and advanced candidates benefit from collaborating with each other and discussing resources, standards, and assessment framework topics. Candidates may want to work with teachers of similar certification areas to share the scoring guide, exercise descriptions, resources, and curriculum information. The Assessment Center Guide and on-line tutorial are extremely beneficial. The NBCT Network of Illinois has developed some excellent Assessment Center resources.

It is important to understand the NBPTS Code of Ethics as you collaborate or support other candidates.

Scoring
The Scoring Handbook from NBPTS offers many insights to the scoring process and is different from the specific certification Scoring Guides.

Scores are released before December 31st each year.

Candidates have three years to achieve and can bank scores over 2.75.

The National Board Certificate is valid for ten years. After that, NBCTs can go through the renewal process to recertify. See NBCT to learn more about renewal.

Advanced Candidates
Retake or Advanced Candidates are teachers who continue with the process beyond the first scoring cycle. Teachers are strongly encouraged to reapply to NBPTS and continue the NBC process. In NYS you can reapply for the and may receive up to $700 to cover the cost of two retake entries. Portfolio entries are due on April 15th of the following year and Assessment Center exercises must be completed by June 15th. Advanced candidates often offer valuable recommendations and insights to new candidates as they continue their work in supportive collegial circles.

Renewal Candidates
National Board Certified Teachers, if you have never before received the Albert Shanker Grant, and are, full-time, certified and tenured teacher in a New York public school, you may be eligible to receive the Shanker Grant. You will need to send your $300 deposit to NBPTS with your renewal application. Then complete the Shanker Grant application form and Check the box on the bottom of the form that indicates you are a renewal candidate. Once your candidacy is verified, the NYState Education Department will provide third-party payment to directly credit your account with NBPTS in an amount up to $1,250.