YES it’s for you!
I totally get it! You are an exhausted teacher with no extra time, no extra money, and certainly no extra energy to add something else to your plate…but what about NBCT…?
Well…this is different.
Don’t be like me—I started teaching in 1987, and didn’t become a National Board Certified Teacher until 2017!!! What a waste of years for me! You are free to pursue National Board Certification after your third year as a classroom teacher, so get started when you are young (and you have more energy!!!)
The Greatest Professional Development Ever
Before we go any further, bookmark this site: https://www.nbpts.org/ . That is the homepage for the National Board process, and you’re going to need to refer to it a million times between today and the day you get your fireworks indicating you are National Board Certified.
As you know, as a faithful reader of my blog and follower of my video series, I am a career Business Education teacher who is very actively involved in Career and Technical Student Organizations and the National Business Honor Society. Despite being active in sports coaching and extracurricular activities since I started teaching, NBCT didn’t cross my radar until about 2015. I was teaching in a middle school, and my principal and assistant principal were both National Board Certified, and they approached me—and a dozen other teachers—about building a cohort to go through the process together.
It was absolutely life-changing going through the process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher. It was, basically, the greatest self-driven and relevant professional development I have ever done. Everyone’s journey is entirely different, and this was the greatest opportunity for me to delve deeply not only into my curricular area, but into my own motivations, strengths and weaknesses as an educator.
The Cost Versus Benefit
Price
Let’s be specific. Assuming the process takes you two years, you will have to pay $75 a year to register. Each of the four sections will cost you $495 each. Those are all of the costs associated with NBCT.
True cost
My teachers union paid for one of the four sections for me. My school district paid for one component, since I acted as the leader of our cohort. Other people put their journey on DonorsChoose, or find other ways within their state to cover all or some of the overall price. Look around–maybe you can find money!
Professional Benefit
I’m definitely a better teacher having been through the NBCT journey. I’ve learned more about myself and how to effectively deliver instruction and reflect on my process through this journey. I am also now equipped to help other teachers with their initial NBCT attempts, and the continuation of certification called Maintenance of Certification (MOC) that you need to do every five years.
Personal benefit
This intense process brought me closer to some of the greatest teachers I’ve ever met. Between the people in my cohort, people I’ve connected with on Facebook, and networking within my own school district, I’ve gained many contacts.
Financial Benefit
Yeah, there is this. Every state is different, so be sure to find out how much (if anything) your state will award you for successful completion and maintenance of your certification. I moved over a “column” on the pay scale, and get a yearly 5% bonus on top of my salary.
It’s awesome!
Getting Ready:
Build a cohort
I highly recommend building a group in your school and going through the process together. We met once a month to work and snack and complain! It was fantastic, and made the process so much better.
Get online
On social media, you can find groups who are going through the same certification process as you. I am in a NBCT group, a Business NBCT group, and a MOC group. Tons of great resources and assistance available to you on Facebook!
Carve out a schedule
You will read about people doing the entire component in a weekend, and I absolutely do not recommend doing this! Look at your current work/life balance, and figure out how you can create a reasonable, workable schedule so that you can seamlessly fit NBCT into your real life.
Find an accountability buddy
I was the only Business Ed teacher in my cohort, so nobody could really assist me with the curricular portions of the process. I asked my assistant principal to serve as my accountability buddy, so she would keep in touch on a regular basis to find out what I was working on, helping out when she could, and bringing coffee on the days I was working on campus. It made it much easier for me to keep to my schedule knowing she was on my team.
The Four Components
To initially certify, you must complete four different components, and submit the information required by mid-May. Your score will be released in December on that year, after which you will have certified, or can resubmit components the following year until you certify.
Component 1: Test
This is a four-part test given in the spring. There is one section of objective questions, and then three written response sections. Everything on this component can come from anything in your licensure area. For example, I had one prompt about a middle school curriculum, and another about obviously a high school topic. Consider the problem for a Math certification—anything from times tables to Statistics.
Component 2: Differentiated Instruction
In this component, you showcase a particular assignment (you literally submit the assignment), and demonstrate how you differentiate instruction for the various learners in your classroom. I submitted the rough draft and final copies of a personal business letter assignment, complete with my written comments on the rough drafts.
Component 3: Video proof of your accomplished status
Submitting this component includes two videos showcasing two very different curricular topics and different groupings of students. For example, I used a Video Production whole group and a Computer Applications small group for my videos.
Component 4: Your professional development story
The deepest dive of the components is number four, when you show evidence of all of the work you have done to improve your craft. This is where you highlight professional development you have created or completed, in addition to coursework you have pursued to make you a more effective educator. Many feel this is the most difficult of the components.
My Suggested Schedule
You have three years
Once you register ($75) you have three years to attempt all four of the components at least once. You actually have five years to pass all four components and become certified.
Common is two
The most common length of time for people to go through the process is two years, with you doing two components per year. In my opinion, Components 1 and 4 should be attempted first, following the second year with Components 2 and 3. Component 1 is literally a one day test you can study for, and Component 4 is the most time-consuming. You will receive your scores and know exactly what you need to score during the second year when you are doing Components 2 and 3.
You can do one
I did components 2, 3 and 4 in one school year. I had a very firm schedule, and I stuck to it religiously. Every day, I went to school one hour early, and worked on National Boards. I did Component 2 in two months, 3 in two months and 4 in two months. That left me the month of March to edit and review before submission. I did everything on campus, and never wrote at night or on weekends.
Why NBCT Particularly Important For You And Me
You are a Career and Technical Education teacher. Just like me. If you’ve been in it for some years now, you’ve probably been through some tough budget times. It seems like every time the money gets tight, Business Ed gets put on the chopping block again. It is incredibly frustrating, and we deserve much better, but that has happened to me multiple times since 1987.
NBCT helps you hedge your bets against layoffs. It is considered quite prestigious everywhere in the country to have National Board teachers on your staff. Maybe, just maybe, you going through the process will save your program down the line.
Just. Do. It.
I’ve barely touched on the journey, the sacrifices or the rewards. I encourage you to go to the website and read through what you will be asked to do. It will absolutely seem overwhelming and a ton of work. Don’t be discouraged—use the Facebook groups to evaluate which certification area is best for your situation, and ask questions about the depth and breadth of the process itself.
Finally, take the first step. Our students deserve it. For us to truly serve our students to the best of our ability, we need to demonstrate the attitude of a lifetime learner. That is exactly what the National Board journey is about—continuing to stretch ourselves and grow as educators and people. We owe it to ourselves, too.
I’m happy to read your components if you need an editor.
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR!!!
Wow, thank you for reading about pursuing NBCT!
Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out interview skills for 2023, here, and learn about project based learning, here! Check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!
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