March 10, 2009
Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:
NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER FEE SUBSIDY
I am writing to ask you to encourage teachers to accept the challenge of advanced certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). National Board Certification provides high quality professional development for experienced teachers and allows teachers to gauge their skills and knowledge against objective standards of advanced practice.
In December 2008, the NBPTS announced the names of 365 California teachers who joined the ranks of California’s National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) bringing the state’s total to 4,240, approximately one percent of our teaching force. The NBCT Directory is available to help you identify which teachers in your district(s) have achieved National Board Certification. You can access the NBCT Directory on the NBPTS NBCT Directory Web page [http://www.nbpts.org/resources/nbct_directory]
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It is my intent that you will work to increase the number of candidates in your district(s) and publicize the variety of support that is available for teachers throughout the state. You can find information about the following programs on the California Department of Education National Certification for Teachers Web page [http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ps/te/nbpts.asp]:
- A federal fee subsidy program of $1,250 to offset 50 percent of the candidate fees
- District support for candidates and incentives for NBCT
- Higher Education support (including Master’s programs)
- Regional support programs
It is our goal in California to ensure that all California schools have a cadre of NBCTs to provide teacher leadership in support of excellent teaching. The following list contains the five new Professional Teaching Development Centers, including contact information, that have been established to support NBCTs and candidates:
California State University, Fullerton
Dr. Mark Ellis, NBCT
mellis@fullerton.edu
California State University, Northridge
Dr. Virginia Kennedy
Virginia.kennedy@csun.edu
National University
Rae Adams, NBCT
radams@nu.edu
San Joaquin County Office of Education
Dr. Kathleen Gonsalves
kagonsalves@scjoe.net
University of California, Los Angeles, Center X
Frances Gipson
fgipson@gseis.ucla.edu
Your teachers may also be interested in a new program called Take One! Take One! is a unique offering that provides a standards-based approach for improving teaching practice and links student learning to effective instruction. Take One! gives teachers the option to try one component of the NBPTS program and is available to teachers in 24 certificate areas. You can find information about Take One! and National Board Certification on the NBPTS Web site [http://www.nbpts.org/]
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If you have any questions regarding this subject, or if you would like to schedule an information session in your area, please contact Eli Johnson, Education Programs Consultant, Mathematics and Science Leadership Office, by phone at 916-323-5472 or by e-mail at ejohnson@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
JACK O'CONNELL
JO:ej
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814