NBCT case studies
NBCT · Put your knowledge to work in context.
National Board Certification is the professional certification that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) describes as the highest certification a teacher may obtain and the most respected one in education. It was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide, and more than 146,000 teachers have achieved it. The NBCT case studies are 5 cases and about 5,246 words.
1The Recipe Table That Taught the Wrong Relationship
A seventh-grade math teacher has 26 students in a proportional-reasoning unit. Reviewing her own board work from the lesson, the teacher sees she built a ratio table by saying, "Each time we add 2 cups of flour, we add 3 cups of milk," and students filled in the table correctly during guided practice.
933 words, about 5 min2One Science Block, Twenty-Seven Readers
A fourth-grade teacher has 27 students in a 45-minute science block. The class includes four English learners (two are newcomers at WIDA level 1, speaking Spanish and Portuguese; two are at level 3), three students with IEPs (one decoding at a first-grade level due to dyslexia, one with a specific learning disability in math, one receiving speech-language services), and two students identified as gifted in reading.
1,063 words, about 5 min3Seventy-Eight Percent Teacher Talk
A ninth-grade English teacher recorded a twelve-minute discussion segment from a unit on argument. A running tally of the video shows the teacher speaking roughly 78 percent of the time; six students account for about 60 percent of all student talk; three students say nothing at all across the twelve minutes, though all three wrote substantive annotations the night before.
1,053 words, about 5 min4Two Sections, One Pacing Guide
A fifth-grade teacher teaches two math sections with the same curriculum and pacing. On the district interim, first-period section A had 82 percent proficient (n=25) and sixth-period section B had 54 percent proficient (n=24).
1,080 words, about 5 min5Eight Minutes Left and a Group That Won't Work
A sixth-grade teacher has 28 students, a project-based classroom, and a 50-minute period. With eight minutes left, table three - a group of four - is audibly escalating.
1,117 words, about 6 min