American Association of Teachers of German

GOOD NEWS TO REPORT!

As many of you are aware, National Board Certification has not been available to German teachers for the past few years. However, we have just learned that the National Board administration has agreed that within the next 2-3 years, teachers of ALL languages will be able to apply. We will inform the entire AATG membership once this has become official.

Updated 2/5/2008

Research demonstrates that quality instruction from highly qualified teachers is important; accomplished teachers help students to reach high standards of learning. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards®, founded in 1987, is taking the lead by setting standards for accomplished teachers and creating a voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet these standards.* The standards, representing a consensus of teachers, teacher educators, and professional organizations in a given teaching field, articulate the critical skills and knowledge that distinguish effective teaching in their field. Recently, the National Board approved standards for teachers of World Languages Other than English, paving the way for teachers in this field to engage in a rigorous professional development process leading to a National Board Certificate. In April 2002, National Board Certification became available for teachers of Latin and Japanese, in addition to Spanish, French and German.

Why go through National Board Certification?
Teachers who have been through the rigorous process of National Board Certification often comment that it is one of the best professional development experiences in their teaching careers. The process allows teachers to engage in analytic study of their classroom practice as teachers. Teacher reflection becomes an embedded habit as a result. For some teachers, the intrinsic rewards of this opportunity are an end in itself. Others are recognized with financial incentives that substantially enhance their salaries. Districts often are able to retain high quality teachers in the classroom with financial incentives, alleviating the attrition of good teachers to other positions in and out of teaching. National Board Certification can open the doors to many teacher leadership opportunities while allowing these teachers to continue to do what they do best: teach. NBCTs speak at professional conferences, support professional growth in other teachers, work as part of their school communities to enhance student outcomes, and promote teaching as a professional career.

A recent study comparing National Board Certified Teachers to teachers who had not achieved this distinction concluded that National Board Certified Teachers significantly outperformed the comparison group on eleven of thirteen key dimensions of teaching expertise (UNC, Greensboro, 2000). With such promising findings, there are powerful reasons to encourage teachers to engage in this process. Students derive the benefits from the expert teaching of National Board Certified Teachers, teacher education programs can confidently place interns in the classrooms of these model teachers, and new teachers can count on knowledgeable mentoring from these accomplished colleagues.

What is included in the portfolio?
National Board Certification is a performance-based assessment, where teachers demonstrate how they meet National Board Standards for their teaching field through a portfolio of their work. The portfolio consists of four separate entries, each of which calls for standards-based evidence of different elements of their teaching practices. Three of the entries ask candidates for National Board Certification to showcase specific aspects of their classroom instruction. Teachers submit videotapes, student work samples, and other materials from their classroom teaching and a detailed commentary that gives context for the evidence they submit. The fourth entry is a documentation of accomplishments, in which candidates describe how their work with families, the community, and other professionals have impacted their students' learning.

What do the Assessment Center Exercises involve?
The assessment center, a second portion of the certification process, consists of six thirty-minute exercises and assesses selected content knowledge. Assessment center exercises involve content recognized by foreign language organizations to be essential proficiencies for all educators in world language instruction: knowledge of the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communicative modes and the linguistic system; and knowledge of language acquisition.

To demonstrate oral proficiency, teachers will respond on tape in the target language to scenarios presented in English, providing accurate and full responses about contextualized social, practical, professional, and abstract topics. This exercise is scheduled separately from the other five exercises, and is completed in the presence of a test administrator, who does the recording. For the remaining five exercises, candidates go to Prometric Testing Centers where prompts are delivered by computer. Candidates are given up to 30 minutes per exercise to handwrite or type constructed responses to exercises that require them to demonstrate their knowledge and skills relating to interpretation of spoken language, written language, communication in writing, language acquisition theory, and knowledge of how languages work.

Where can I learn more?
NBPTS will be offering two sessions at the November 2002 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference in Salt Lake City in conjunction with the introduction of the World Languages Specialist assessment. National Board staff and National Board Certified Teachers will be available to answer questions about the process. Keith Cothrun, chair of the World Languages Standards Committee and current board member, will discuss standards and assessment development, connecting the work of NBPTS to ACTFL initiatives.

Am I eligible?
Teachers are eligible to enter the National Board Certification process if they hold a baccalaureate degree, have taught for a minimum of three years and have held a valid state teaching license (if required) during those three years. The National Board Certification process is an opportunity for teachers to reflect upon their practice, analyze student work and describe their deliberate and intentional instructional decisions based upon their understanding of student learning. The portfolio assessment allows educators to showcase how they meet National Board Standards in visible and multifaceted ways. Teachers actively practicing in the field score all assessments.

How can I apply?
Applications for National Board Assessment are available online and by mail. Fee support is available to help defray the $2300 application cost. For more information about the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, fee support, or for an application contact:

Telephone: 1-800-22 TEACH
Web site: http://www.nbpts.org/

*This project is funded in part with grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. Through September 2001, NBPTS has been appropriated federal funds of $109.3 million, representing approximately 51 percent of the National Board Certification project. More than $106.3 million (49 percent) of the project's cost will be financed by non-governmental sources.

World Languages Other than English
The National Board Certification® process is voluntary and is open to public and private school teachers from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The World Languages Other than English (World Languages) certificate is designed for teachers of students ages 3-12 (Early and Middle Childhood), and ages 11-18+ (Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood).

Status of This Certificate
The National Board has developed standards for what World Languages Other than English teachers should know and be able to do and is currently offering the World Languages Other than English certificate. Applications for this year's assessments will be available beginning April 1, 2002. Application and portfolio deadlines and assessment center testing dates are posted on the Web site, and are also listed in materials sent to all candidates. For further information visit the NBPTS Web site http://www.nbpts.org/, or call 1-800 22 TEACH. During the 2002-2003 school year, the assessments will be offered to teachers of French, German, Spanish, Latin and Japanese.

The Assessment Process
The assessment is performance-based and designed to evaluate the complex knowledge and skills of teaching described in the NBPTS standards. The assessment process consists of two components: the portfolio entries and the half-day assessment center exercises. The certification decision is based on teacher performance as judged against the NBPTS standards for accomplished practice.

The Portfolio
The portfolio of the World Languages assessment gives teachers the opportunity to present a sample of their actual classroom practice over a specified time period. The portfolio consists of four entries:

-Designing Instruction Over Time (Early and Middle Childhood, for teachers of students ages 3-12) --Teachers demonstrate their ability to select instructional goals, design sequenced instruction, select and adapt materials, and apply methodologies appropriate for their students. Teachers submit a ten-minute videotape of student work. Teachers also submit a written analysis of and reflection on the effectiveness of the instructional sequence and how they assessed student progress and provided appropriate feedback to students.
OR
Designing Instruction Over Time (Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood, for teachers of students ages 11-18+) -- Teachers demonstrate their ability to select instructional goals, design sequenced instruction, select and adapt materials, and apply methodologies appropriate for their students. Teachers submit two student work samples. Teachers also submit a written analysis of and reflection on the effectiveness of the instructional sequence and how they assessed student progress and provided appropriate feedback to students.

-Building Communicative and Cultural Competence--Teachers demonstrate a range of culturally and communicatively appropriate and personally relevant instruction for students. This entry is designed to capture evidence of the teacher's use of the target language, knowledge of language acquisition, and ability to create language and culture learning environments where meaningful communication in the target language occurs. Teachers submit a fifteen-minute videotape featuring students fulfilling real-world tasks in culturally appropriate ways. Teachers submit a written commentary in which they analyze their teaching practice and evaluate their instructional choices.

-Engaging All Learners--Teachers demonstrate how they use their knowledge of child and adolescent development to design instruction so that all students are actively engaged in learning. Teachers submit a fifteen-minute videotape where they show how they provide authentic materials and resources, input-rich environments and meaningful lessons where all students have opportunities to perform in culturally appropriate ways. Teachers submit a written commentary that describes how they maintain a task-oriented environment where lessons are sequenced in manageable steps so that all students have multiple opportunities to interact in the target language and culture.

-Documented Accomplishments: Contributions to Student Learning - Teachers demonstrate their commitment to student learning through their work with students' families and community, their development as learners and as leaders/collaborators. This entry is designed to capture evidence of the way in which the role of a teacher is broader than what the teacher does in his or her classroom. Teachers submit descriptions and analysis of activities and accomplishments that clearly and specifically describe why they are significant in their particular teaching context and what impact they had on student learning. In addition, teachers are asked to compose a brief interpretive summary related to these accomplishments.

The Assessment Center
The World Languages assessment center exercises examine content knowledge specified in the NBPTS standards. There are five written exercises and one oral proficiency exercise: *

-Oral Proficiency (French, German, Japanese, and Spanish)- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Teachers will demonstrate the ability to speak in the target language by providing accurate and full responses about contextualized social, practical, professional, and abstract topics. Teachers will respond on tape in the target language to 12 scenarios presented in English. After each scenario, teachers will receive a brief cue in the target language before beginning their responses.
OR
Oral Proficiency (Latin, only)- Teachers will demonstrate the ability to read prose and poetry aloud with appropriate pronunciation, voice inflection, phrase groupings, and attention to metrical structures.

-Interpreting Aural Texts (French, German, Japanese, and Spanish)- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Given two aural texts, they will respond to four comprehension questions and one inference question pertaining to each text.
OR
Interpreting Stylistic Devices in Poetry (Latin, only)- Teachers will demonstrate the ability to give a detailed analysis of how stylistic devices communicate the intent of a poetry passage. Given a poetry passage, they will respond to two prompts.

-Interpreting Written Texts- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Given an excerpt from literature, they will respond to six questions about the text. The teacher will describe the setting, characters, relationships between characters, and actions and behaviors of the characters. They will also draw a reasonable inference from the text and support their inference with evidence from the text.

-Written Communication (French, German and Spanish)- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Given a writing prompt, they will write a draft essay in the target language. In the draft essay, the teacher will demonstrate the ability to express an opinion on a professional or social topic.
OR
Written Communication (Japanese, only)- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Given a writing prompt, they will write a letter making a request of someone in Japan, giving reasons for making the request.
OR
Written Communication (Latin, only)- Teachers will demonstrate functional knowledge of the target language. Given six writing prompts, they will demonstrate the ability to use forms, phrases, and clauses.

-Knowledge of Language Acquisition- Teachers will demonstrate knowledge of language acquisition. Given three terms from the professional literature on: language acquisition; instructional techniques; and methods and approaches, the teacher will explain each of the three terms and give examples connected to the explanation from their target language and instructional level. The terms may come from professional journals and /or second language acquisition texts.

-Knowledge of How Language Works -Teachers will demonstrate knowledge of how the target language works. Given 20 errors embedded in excerpts from a variety of texts in the target language, they will correct each error and explain why it is an error.

-Teachers are given 30 minutes to complete each of the six assessment center exercises.

-Six scores are reported, one for each exercise.

*subject to change

Sidebar: Quote-World Languages Teacher/Teacher Educator

Useful links:

Become an Assessor (apply on-line): http://www.nbpts.org/candidates/retakecandidateinfo.cfm

ACTFL Conference information: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4152

AATG Conference information: http://www.aatg.org/content/category/8/26/34/

YahooGroups (under NBPTSFL): http://groups.yahoo.com/

Submitted by:

Kathleen Kosobud McKinley, NBCT (EA/Generalist)
Teacher-in-Residence (on loan from the Ann Arbor, Michigan Public Schools)
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
26555 Evergreen Rd. Suite 400
Southfield, MI 48076

Telephone: (248) 945-6513
E-Mail: kmckinley@nbpts.org