National Board Certification ® Liaison Meeting

1. National Board Certification®Liaison Meeting Columbia Conference Center June 24, 2009

2. Outcomes • Acquire information on recruitment and support of National Board candidates and support of NBCTs • Review available Candidate Support information • Obtain National Board and legislative updates from partner organizations

3. By The Numbers • Current number of NBCTs: 6,489(758 in 2008) • Current number of first-time candidates: 1,166 • 2007-2008 retake candidates-534 • 2006-2007 first-time candidates-221 • Current number of retake candidates: 755 • Current number of candidates in the process: 1,921 These are approximate numbers and are subject to change

4. Fall 2009SC NBC Loan Window Available August 1 – November 1, 2008 Materials to be provided by NB District Liaisons: • Fall 2009 SC NBC Loan application • Informational Booklet to include: • Loan guidelines for teachers who apply for the loan after July 1, 2007 and are teaching in schools with an absolute rating of Below Average or Unsatisfactory • Step by Step flyer

5. SC NBC Loan Guidelines- Full loan forgiveness For Qualifying Teachers-Beginning July 1, 2007 Teachers who begin the application process after July 1, 2007 and who teach in schools which have an absolute rating of Below Average or Unsatisfactory at the time the teacher applies to the National Board for certification, but fail to obtain certification, nonetheless shall be eligible for full forgiveness of the loan as follows: upon submission of all required materials for certification, one-half of the loan principal amount and interest shall be forgiven; forgiveness of the remainder of the loan will be at the rate of 33% for each year of full time teaching in the same school regardless of whether that school exceeds an absolute rating of below average or unsatisfactory during the forgiveness period, or for each year of full time teaching in another school that has an absolute rating of below average or unsatisfactory.

6. Loan Forgiveness for Qualifying Candidates Paperwork due at CERRA within 90 days of each score release until Certification is achieved • Candidate must submit a completed copy of the SC NBC Request for Loan Forgiveness form found on www.cerra.org at score release time of each non-achieving year. • Candidate must also submit a copy of the NBPTS score report at the end of each non-achieving year. If no score report is received in year two or three, the completed Request for Loan Forgiveness form must still be submitted to CERRA.

7. SC NBC Loan Program • District Incentives • Request for NBCT Updates in August • Withdrawal/Repayment Information

8. Withdrawal • NBPTS must be notified in writing by submission of a Withdrawal Form • Withdrawal Form must be received by NB before submitting entries to NB, before going to the assessment center andbefore portfolio due date • $500 initial fee must be repaid to SC (not NBPTS) within 2 months of withdraw date. CERRA does not invoice candidates. • Total assessment fee ($2500) and any additional fees and interest will be owed to SC by the candidate if withdrawal procedures and deadlines are not met.

9. CERRA’s Candidate Support • CERRA Toolkit http://www.cerra.org/leaders/NBCTtoolkit/ • National Board Candidate Support Workshop- July 1- 2, Lexington Town Hall

10. Legislative Update • General Education Legislation Hodges Consulting-Billy Boan

11. CERRA Partnerships SDE Update Office of Finance- Mellanie Jinnette

12. Changes in Proviso: • Limit # of applications to 1,100 • Salary Supplement for those achieving in November

13. Other Financial Information: • Furloughing teachers who are NBCTs • Adjusting PCS • Renewal of NBC

14. FY 2009-2010: • Request sent in August based on PCS • Begin payment in Sept.

15. NBPTS®Programs and Updates News fromNBPTS- Karen Garr— If I were there, I would begin my remarks by… …thanking you. Once again, with your hard work and that of our excellent lobbyists Billy Boan and Merideth Strawhorn, South Carolina maintained its National Board Certification program. Thank you, thank you, thank you. …reminding you. the way to avoid future challenges to our program is to be active all year round in protecting and advancing National Board Certification. Here are some ways I’ve found to be helpful in doing that:

16. Protecting and Advancing NB Certification- Karen Garr • Recruit candidates and then recruit some more. The program lives because teachers continue to participate. Candidates take the risk of comparing their practice to the highest standards of the profession, and National Board Certified Teachers reach out to colleagues to support them through the process. Remember that the candidate number is now capped at 1100 so teachers need to apply sooner rather than later this year. • Get to know policy makers at the local and state levels and tell them about the process. Tell them how National Board Certification improves student learning and keeps the state’s most accomplished teachers in the classroom. One way to get to know policy makers and to have them understand the value of National Board Certification is to have them visit the classrooms of NBCTs. Any day of the year will do, but if you’re looking for special occasions, here are some ideas: • in September, the National Conference of State Legislatures will sponsor its tenth annual Back to School program in which legislators go into classrooms to bring civics to life for students. NBCTs might want to consider inviting a legislator into the classroom. • November will give us American Education Week, another great chance to have policy makers and community leaders in our schools. • Of course, it’s never too early to line up readers for March 2’s Read Across America Day, now a weeklong celebration of reading sponsored by the NEA.

17. Update from National Board- Karen Garr • Remember that Pearson is now our provider for testing, replacing ETS. If you or your candidates encounter any problems in this first year of transition, please call 800-22-TEACH or email me at kgarr@nbpts.org. • The new Advanced Certification for Education Leaders (ACEL) is on track. This is the fancy name for our new certification for principals. There’s good information on the National Board website, www.nbpts.org. If you want to recommend outstanding administrators or teachers for ACEL committees, please send names and contact information to me. Include a brief statement letting me know why you recommend the person. • Don’t forget the NBPTS National Conference set for July 15-18 in Atlanta. It promises to be another exciting event for NBCTs and for all of us who support the National Board. One of the featured speakers is Dr. Barnett Berry, formerly of USC. As with ACEL, there’s good information on our website about the conference.

18. Final Thoughts- Karen Garr • Finally if I could be with you at the meeting, I would take time to thank Brett Vaughn for her tireless efforts on behalf of teachers in South Carolina and the National Board. Brett has been a fighter when we needed one in our corner, an encourager for candidates and a champion for NBCTs every day she’s worked at CERRA, and a leader for all of us as we navigated some tough paths together. The students who will find Mrs. Vaughn waiting at the classroom door when school opens are mighty lucky to get her. We’ve all been mighty lucky to have had her at CERRA. • Thanks again to all of you for your hard work. I hope to see you at the fall meeting. Meanwhile, stay in touch!

19. SC NBC Loan Program- Reminders • Updated Awareness PowerPoint • Travel Reimbursement • Q & A

20. Networking Lunch Please submit completed forms • Travel • Evaluation • Information Update (if contact info has changed)

21. CERRA Contacts Katie Gibson NBPTS Loan Program Manager gibsonk@winthrop.edu Brett Vaughn CERRA Program Director vaughnb@cerra.org *Beginning August 3rd Jenna Hallman CERRA Program Director hallmanj@cerra.org