The National Board has developed an innovative, two-part assessment process. One component of the assessment is done at a teacher's school. In this phase, teachers build a portfolio to show evidence of good teaching practice and to demonstrate how their teaching meets the advanced standards in their fields. The portfolio is prepared according to instructions provided by the National Board and contains videotapes of classroom teaching, lesson plans, student work samples and reflective written commentaries that detail what the teacher is doing and why. The second component of the assessment involves a series of written exercises at an assessment center.
Candidates spend one full day at the assessment center.
Exercises are designed around challenging teacher issues and include simulations of classroom practices, evaluating other teachers' practices, designing curriculum, assessing student learning and a teacher's subject matter knowledge. The entire assessment process takes place over the better part of a school year, during which most candidates say they spend about 120 hours on assessment activities. All rights reserved.