National Board of Professional Teaching Standard, Certificate

Teachers who are working toward National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification can earn up to 12 credits toward their MA in Education, and tailor their action thesis around their NBPTS portfolio. For more specific information visit the NBPTS web site at http://www.nbpts.org/.

The following describes the National Board strand in the MA in Education program. The National Board strand assumes that teachers will complete the same requirements as everyone else in the MA in Education program.

The Action Thesis, which is developed through the four required MA in Education courses, is modified as follows in the NBPTS Certificate Program. Rather than developing a new project or collecting data about a different question, the teacher selects a focus in the NBPTS portfolio work. Generally each portfolio has a focus, although a teacher may select a focus that cuts across more than one portfolio. The statement of purpose, literature review, and implications for future work, is then “wrapped around” the data used in the National Board portfolio. In Capstone (MAE 670 - MAE Culminating Learning Experience  (1-6 units)), the main task of the teacher is to link together a focus or question, the literature, the reflection on one’s own practice through classroom-based data from the NBPTS portfolio, and a thoughtful discussion of how one might continue to develop as a teacher based on all of this.

For specific information visit the NBPTS web site at http://www.nbpts.org/