Overview
National Board Certification (NBC) is the “gold standard” in teaching. It is also one of the most valuable and rewarding opportunities for professional growth and improvement.
Teachers with at least three years of experience work through an in-depth performance assessment process. They invest the better part of a school year in examining their practice, collecting evidence and preparing the submission of their work to be assessed by trained classroom teachers across the country. Student work and videotaped classroom teaching are part of the assessment requirements, as is a rigorous test of content knowledge in the teacher’s field.
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Support
Teachers pursuing NBC have access to a variety of supports. The Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union, and National-Louis University each offer specialized programs to support teachers in the rigorous NBC process. Click on the links below to these support programs and select the program that is right for you.
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Benefits for Teachers
Beyond the accomplishmen of achieving the profession's highest distinction and improving professional skills that contribute to improve student learning, completion of National Board Certification earns 120 CPDUs for recertification, fulfills the requirements to move from an intitial to a Standard TEaching Certificate, provides land credits and offers graduate credits. Candidates have up to three years to achieve certification, upon which they earn salary stipends from both the State of Illinois and from CPS, per the current Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) contract. The stipend under the current CTU contract is $1,750 per year and is for union employees only. The annual salary stipend from the State of Illinois has been reduced for the 2009-2010 school year from the previous amount of $3,000 and the final amount is still being determined.
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Cost
To apply for National Baord Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, candidates pay a $2,565 application fee. However, despite State budget reductions cutting NBC funding by half, CPS remains very committed to the National Board Certification program as the premier way to recognize and reward talented teachers and will subsidize application fees for the 2009-2010 school year. For eligible applicants, CPS will pay $2,000 of the $2,565 application fee. If you are already an NBC candidate for the 2009-2010 school year and have not received an application subsidy from the State, or if you wish to become an NBC candidate during the fall of 2009 and receive the application subsidy, please contact: nbcinfo@cps.k12.il.us.
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Getting Started
Begin by reviewing the national standards of accomplished teaching
that best match the subjects you teach and the age group of
your students. There are 24 assessments from which to choose.
More information can be found at the NBPTS
website.
If you are interested in becoming an NBC candidate for the 2010-2011 school year and beyond, explore the websites of the three NBC support programs listed above and selct the one that best fits your needs. (Note:it is not necessary to participate in a NBC support program to apply for or achieve National Board Certification. However, the support is likely to be beneficial in working through the rigorous process.) If you are interested in becoming a candidate for the 2009-2010 school year, the CPS program has opened a fall recruiting window and is still accepting canddiates. CPS welcomes eligible teachers to start the exciting journey of becoming an NBCT. If you wish to be part of the CPS program please contact: nbcinfo@cps.k12.il.us.
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