They also submit two packets of student work including their feedback to the students and the students' responses. Then they document how they involve the students' families in the learning process and document the staff development training they've taken during the past five years. Finally, they sit for four, 90-minute national standards exams that test their knowledge in their subject area. Currently, certification is offered in 12 fields, although the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is in the process of developing 18 more fields of certification. Earning certification is estimated to take around 150 hours.
Summers says it takes longer.
Scott must submit a 20-minute unedited video of her teaching as part of her application. The rigors of the program are making it a national hit as teacher unions, national, state and local politicians and education administrators rally around it. Collier County is supporting its teachers by giving them two paid days off to work on their portfolios, providing them with video equipment for taping their classroom teaching and paying part of the cost of bringing Summers to Naples. We want to support the teachers who want to get into a program that is this nationally recognized. But the program is garnering more and more applicants, as states provide teachers with financial incentives to participate.