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7/1/2009 A Commitment to Growth STEVE SCHNEIDER, NBCT

Wednesday, July 01, 2009 It comes in a blue box, about 15”x10”. You ordered it after some deliberation and have waited by: STEVE SCHNEIDER, NBCT anxiously for its arrival. And now, it’s finally here. You open it carefully, not entirely sure what to

expect inside. It’s your National Board Certification portfolio kit from the National Board for Section: Features Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Upon opening the kit, you find forms for verifying your

eligibility for candidacy, a CD-ROM for the National Board Certification in Early Childhood through Young Adulthood/School Counseling certificate area containing the NBPTS Standards, portfolio Print Send Share

instructions, and packing and shipping instructions . The kit also contains bar code labels to place

on your materials, envelopes for submitting your entries and forms and the box used for mailing the submission.

But now what do you do? How do you break down this complicated, involved and, admittedly, somewhat overwhelming process into manageable chunks?

You know this process is certain to provide you with excellent professional growth, so you pop the

disk into your computer and begin your journey. One of your first tasks is to familiarize yourself with

the framework NBPTS has used to develop the school counseling certification. All national certification areas are based on five core propositions . They are:

1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.

2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students .

3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.

4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.

5. Teachers are members of learning communities .

At this point, you may catch yourself asking something like, “Wait, these are all for teachers . Did I sign up for the right thing?” But as you read on, your doubt subsides as you read, “The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is strongly committed to school counselors as educators responsible for the delivery of school counseling programs that are comprehensive and that include goals for student learning, a clearly defined curriculum, sound pedagogical practice

and accountability. In School Counseling Standards, ‘teaching,’ for school counselors, is defined broadly to include the school counselor’s work with the entire school, a single class, small groups and individual students . The setting of the school counselor’s teaching varies as well and includes