Certifiable?

Mr. Rosenfeld,

I knew National Board Certification was a scam when I was unable to access my information until January, when it was supposed to be available the previous November. The Board failed me, an 18 year veteran of the trenches, a teacher of teachers, a grant and technical writer, a consultant for graduate student dissertations, and the state teacher of the year. I had 11 days to file an appeal - at a cost of course. The Board informed me that I should simply pay the cost to resubmit the failed component. I told told them I was not going to do that until I knew why the component had scored a 1, when it should have been a 4 or more. When I called the Board to ask to speak to someone in "a position of authority and power", I was told point blank that I was not allowed to speak to anyone and none of the reviewer's comments about my portfolio could be released to me. What an unbelievable scam. I contacted 4 attorneys about filing a lawsuit against the National Board, all willing to do so, but I could not afford the cost.

I am an anti-National Board Certification advocate and their most outspoken critic. They are an example of the worst and most troubled aspects of public education. As a teacher of future teachers, I admonish the students to never be suckered into applying for the piece of worthless paper.

I also believe NBPTS are the biggest scam in education today. Will you contact me? I want to write about this scam and begin to expose them for what this is. What if a teacher told a student no feedback was available and a student could not talk to the person who graded his/her test? that teacher would be fired immediately. Yet, they do this to us and we pay for it. How do we even know our portfolio was graded??? They cannot prove anything was even done -- our scores could have been computer generated for all we know.

I would like to hear more from both of you. I did contact a lawyer, for various problems I saw in the process. Although he does not feel qualified in this area, he still feels I should pursue it. Have either of you investigated this further?

I still would like to hear from either of you. There is an issue here that needs to be investigated. I missed certifying by .058 of a point. I also scored lower on a retake assessment answer that I scored higher using only one of the two prompts available. I too asked to reveiw my answers, in a closed location, at their choosing. I was told no. Please write back.

Sorry Peggy! I never really checked back on this website now! I would like to chat again though. Please e-mail me at psuallegator@touchnc.net

All the best!

Sorry Peggy! I never really checked back on this website now! I would like to chat again though. Please e-mail me at psuallegator@touchnc.net

All the best!

This is my 3rd attempt and I received the lowest scores ever, even having the help of two mentors. One of the mentors is NB certified and the other is practically the Physical Education Chair Person from the County School's Department. What did I do wrong this time?

This is my 3rd attempt and I received the lowest scores ever, even having the help of two mentors. One of the mentors is NB certified and the other is practically the Physical Education Chair Person from the County School's Department. What did I do wrong this time?

This is my 3rd attempt and I received the lowest scores ever, even having the help of two mentors. One of the mentors is NB certified and the other is practically the Physical Education Chair Person from the County School's Department. What did I do wrong this time?

This is my 3rd attempt and I received the lowest scores ever, even having the help of two mentors. One of the mentors is NB certified and the other is practically the Physical Education Chair Person from the County School's Department. What did I do wrong this time?

I agree, this is a billion dollar scam! What's even more disturbing is that the public is being suckered into paying more tax dollars to teachers who complete a 6-month course.

I wrote this letter and sent it to "60 Minutes". I will not be taking this again. Instead I am devoting my time into exposing them. There really needs to be a class action law suit against them.
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MY LETTER
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I feel compelled to write to anyone that will listen. I will try and be as brief as possible. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has many educators, legislators, and entire school districts fooled! Over recent years there has been great emphasis placed on a 6-month program as the savior of the American Educational system. In fact, in most districts, the pay raise for completing this program is sometimes triple the amount of obtaining a masters degree. Therefore, many educators are now opting to become “National Board Certified”, (which is equivalent to 3 graduate school credits) instead of furthering their post-graduate education.

I graduated in both my undergraduate and graduate programs with honors and have never felt in any instance during my educational experience as "being set up to fail.” However, having completed the NBPTS process along with the "Exam" has led me to feel this way. In an effort to make this program seem credible, only about half of the candidates complete/pass the process in their first try.

Like many of my colleagues, I was enticed by the pay increase that certification promised. However, shortly after examining the procedures and work involved, I began to wonder as to the validity of such a program as being the standard for which we call a teacher “Highly Qualified.” Moreover, after speaking with some candidates who have failed the process several times, questionable areas of the program became evident. Although the principles of the NBPTS are consistent with the concerns facing education in the 21st century, the program is fundamentally unsound in many areas and leaves much room for improvement.
I have outlined 5 MAJOR areas of concern:

1. The program does NOT discuss or reveal why a candidate has failed a particular section of the program. The only options are to pay a fee and re-take the section or again pay a large fee and appeal your score. Therefore, there is NO input, guidance or collaboration by any representative of the National Board as to how a candidate can improve his craft or what he or she did wrong (if anything).

2. The program is based on a series of written entries in which the candidate is asked to reflect and assess his or her teaching practices in certain areas. Since the program is self-guided, the National Board has no way of determining if the candidate is actually completing the entries. In fact, he or she can obtain help from whomever they wish and there is no way of verifying the completed material.

3. There is a limit as to how much a candidate can write in their entries. Surprisingly, this was the hardest aspect of completing this area. The questions were VERY detailed and require in-depth responses. The expectations of shortened or condensed responses has led me to believe that the inflated language is used only to make the program appear to be something it’s not.

4. The exam is completely meaningless! You are asked to give responses to questions that take much longer to answer than the allotted time given. Moreover, the types of questions were, well, “questionable”? For example, instead of asking a barrage of questions to test my special education knowledge, I was asked to give the definitions of a few obscure disorders. One would have to wonder why they would not ask a series of questions that would truly test ones special education professional vocabulary?

5. The last and probably the most disturbing is the actual assessors who are determining your scores. Many are NOT National Board Certified and are not even teaching in the content area they are grading!

In all, the prospect of educators pursuing NBPTS certification instead of a postgraduate education is frightening. Are we to measure a quality teacher by how well he or she can write a 13-page essay? In fact, there are many studies that suggest that national board certified perform no better than the average teacher in terms of student achievement gains.

Furthermore, there is something inherently wrong with compensating an individual more for having completed what is equivalent to one college level course than someone who has committed 3 + years to furthering their educational knowledge by completing a Masters Degree. Furthermore, a credible program to improve student-teacher outcomes should be based on training, instruction, and collaboration with professional colleagues. Not from a program that provides NO guidance, NO recommendations or evaluations, and NO suggestions as to how to improve their teaching skills or to better student learning.

The solution is really very simple. Combine the two: whereas a Masters degree in a content area and the completion of the NBPTS program would be required in order to hold the title of “National Board Certified”. However, the NBPTS would have to take the necessary steps to improve their methods. Using “real” teachers in “real” classrooms would be a great start.

NBPTS - National Board for Pimping Teachers and Suckers.

I will contact my congresswoman. This certification is ridiculous. This is no feedback. I knew it was a scam when my wife did not have any feedback. Are you kidding me? I can't think of any other certification where there is no feedback. It is a cash cow, and teachers are being led to the slaughter.

Gerry:

I'm doing the same thing here in Florida uncovering the truth and my frustration about this hoax. Your letter is great and hope this will get the desire attention. Please let me know how can I help you. You can reach me at nmsantos85@hotmail.com

Oh please contact me.

I also have a lot of information about my own case. I also contacted a lawyer who felt I had a case, but he did not know how I should pursue it.

I missed certification by .07 of a point and of course it was the final time I could take the test.

The worst part was that the test I retook was one I failed to answer the second prompt on the first try. However, I scored higher on the first attempt (answering only one prompt) than I did the second time around (answering both prompts). Go figure.

I have a lot of correspondence and other materials I would be more than happy to share. I told my friend that I really should proceed this year because I think time is running out.

Peggy

I also have realized that National Board is a complete crock. Fortunately I did so before I submitted anything but I will have to pay back $500 in scholarship money for this scam.

This is the first time in many years that I have been pursuing justice against nbpts, that I have seen so many disgruntled participants. To go against this "royal" institution was almost criminal. A class action lawsuit is what is needed, but it needs people. I am in for the count and am willing to put effort into this cause. Anyone else?

What is the basis for a class action lawsuit? Wouldn't it be more effective for us to publicize our criticisms in articles in respected journals or magazines? That being said, how can we do that without being ostracized by the establishment which has bought into this scam? In a related development, did you hear that the Pearson group will now be scoring National Board entries?

Wow, sorry GUYs I have not checked this blog since I wrote my letter to 60mins.

Of coarse, they didn't write back. I am extremely busy and have not even thought about this scam. To tell you the truth, I just wanted to forget the ordeal.

I'm just angry that in some districts teachers that get this cert. are being payed more than someone with a MA.

i wrote to my union and asked why. They replied -"It's harder to get the cert. than a masters". They are right - the scammers - know that and that is the reason why they fail most teachers who want to pursue the monetary benefits.

As far as the class action law suit - we need a congressman or legislator who will take up the cause.

Gerry

Maybe now that the economy has tanked most school districts won't have money to pay for this foolishness. It's time for this worthless and possible destructive program to vanish from the scene.

I went through the NBPTS process twice...I scored lower the second time than the first. I had someone who was a "pioneer" read my entries the second time and was assured I would certify. My evidence was clearly there. This is a scam...have you seen the assessors on teacher tube? Not impressive at all. I think they have unqualified assessors. How can a third year teacher that doesn't even have to have gone through this process themselves have the qualifications to judge this? Most third year teachers I know barely know the subject matter...something must be done about this.