World Class Teacher Program
Jumpstart your journey to National Board Certification
Welcome to the World Class Teaching Program at the University of Mississippi!
The World Class Teaching Program (WCTP) supports teachers in Mississippi and across the country who are interested in completing their National Board Certification.
- National Board Certification is a rigorous process that assesses a teacher's knowledge and skills.
WCTP helps teachers prepare for the National Board Certification. With our help the National Boards will be easier than you ever thought possible.
Why is the National Board Certification important?
National Board Certification sets you apart from the rest of your peers and sets you up for future opportunities.
Teachers who earn National Board Certification:
- Are experts in their field
- Are part of network of educators constantly working to improve their skills
- May receive salary increases from their state or school district
- May have their certification count as state licensure, renewal, or a step increase
- If teachers work in Mississippi, their fees will be reimbursed by the state after they’ve completed all the required components.
The WCTP offers a variety of resources to help teachers prepare for and succeed in the National Board Certification process, including mentoring, workshops, and online courses.
National Board Certification by the Numbers
The Five Core Propositions of the National Board
The Five Core Propositions of the National Board outline what teachers should know and be able to do in the classroom. Together, the propositions form the basis of all National Board Standards, which describe how teachers enact the Propositions in particular content areas with students of particular developmental levels.
Certification by the board is proof that you have mastered the Five Core Propositions.
According to the Five Core Propositions of the National Board, teachers should always:
- Be committed to students and their individual learning needs
- Have in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach and know how to teach those subjects to a diverse group of students
- Be responsible for managing and monitoring student learning
- Think systematically and holistically about their practice and continue learning from their experience
- Be an active member of a learning community
How does the National Board Certification Work?
The National Board Certification was created by teachers for teachers to help educators across the country level up their practice and become leaders in their school district.
In order for National Board Certification to mean so much to teachers, students, and school districts, it has to be rigorous and holistic. The process of certification is built upon four components.
The four components to National Board Certification include:
- Content knowledge. This is a computer-based assessment that demonstrates your knowledge and pedagogical practices in your certificate area.
This includes 3 constructed response exercises and approximately 45 selected response items - Differentiation in instruction. This is a classroom-based portfolio and is primarily comprised of student-work samples that demonstrate the student’s growth over time and produce your own written commentary that analyzes your instructional choices.
- Teaching practice and learning environment. This is a classroom-based portfolio that requires video recordings of interactions between you and your students. You will also include a written commentary in which you describe, analyze and reflect on your teaching and the recorded interactions.
Both the video and the written commentary should demonstrate how you engage students and impact their learning. - Effective and Reflective Practitioner. This is a portfolio entry that provides you with the opportunity to highlight your abilities as an effective and reflective practitioner in developing and applying your knowledge of your students.
The component focuses on data driven instruction and decision making that impacts student learning centered around an identified student need.