National Board for Professional Teaching Standards - Essay Example

NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards Roll No: Teacher: 18th November 2008 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards 3 Introduction 3 NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards 3 Understanding of Special Educator 4 Applying the Standards to Teach Students with Disabilities 5 Knowledge and Skills needed to be an Effective Special Educator 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards Introduction NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) Exceptional Needs Standards has set certain criteria for teachers related to teaching students with special needs. The teachers are required to be more responsible as they should have not only the knowledge of special education and students with special needs but they should also be fully capable to communicate, organize and manage the class. The teachers must be aware of the legal implications of special education. This paper describes the NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) Exceptional Needs Standards firstly, then it moves towards the understanding of the special educator, after it, it informs about how can the NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards be applied for teaching students with disabilities, then there is an assessment of knowledge and skills needed to be an effective special educator and in the end, the topic is concluded. NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Standards NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) Exceptional Needs Standards is a certification for the teachers who teach students with special needs. The age criterion that is applied for exceptional students is twenty one and more than twenty one years of age (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2006). The teacher willing to get this certification must be able to identify the needs of students in terms of communication because communication is required to get information, to apply information and to understand information. The NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards require the teachers to be sincere to their teaching job and that they have full interest in enabling the students to learn. NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards are a set of principles, which the interested candidates should be aware of before applying for it (Bond, et. al, 2000). The principles are related to the teaching attitude and interest of teachers and also about the devotion of teachers towards the students with exceptional needs. These standards make sure that the teachers that are certified according to these standards are able to let the students with special needs to learn to a great extent. The teachers are assessed according to their knowledge concerning relative subjects for the students with special needs. The teachers must be able to generate a positive correspondence between them and the students. The teachers should not keep any kind of prejudice or bias with the students, they must be fair to all. The teachers should have all the legal knowledge required for special education. According to these standards, the teachers should be able to manage the class and the students and should be able to create an environment that is beneficial for the students with special needs. Understanding of Special Educator Previously, I used to think that a special educator was required to only have the knowledge related to special education and students with special needs but after going through the NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards, I gain the knowledge that the special educator is not only a person who should have knowledge about the exceptional students and learning but he/she should have excellent communication skills, he/she should be able to create an environment that is able to make the students learn in the best possible way, he/she should be able to analyze and examine the behaviors of the students, he/she should be fully aware of the legal aspects attached to special education, he/she should be able to assess the students’ performance, he/she should be able to manage the class and the students along with teaching and enabling the students to learn. Applying the Standards to Teach Students with Disabilities NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards are very helpful in enabling teachers to be developed into effective teachers for students with special needs. It needs the teacher to be equipped not only with knowledge about special education and students with special needs but also about legal aspects related to the special education, communication skills, positive attitude, assessment skills for students’ performance and students’ attitude, managers of class and students and teachers not only as teachers but learners also (Bond, et. al, 2000). NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards can be applied while teaching students with disabilities as a classroom setup will be developed in which all the students will be given equal opportunities to learn and communicate. The students will be assessed in terms of their learning and dependency. It will be made sure that the students are able to become independent in many tasks with the passage of time and with continuous teaching. It will be made sure that all the standards are kept in focus while teaching. Students will be allowed to communicate not only with the teacher but with other students as well. Students’ learning and development will be assessed properly to judge their skill development in terms of learning. Each and every student will be given full attention to make sure that he/she learns fully to his/her extent. Students will be allowed to deliver their ideas regarding any topic to the teacher and to other students. Resources such as visual and audio tools will be employed to enable students to learn actively. There will be tests and other assessment strategies for examining students’ gained knowledge. Knowledge and Skills needed to be an Effective Special Educator To be an effective special educator, an educator needs to be knowledge about the students with special needs. He/she should be able to know about human development skills for students with special needs. He/she should be able to comprehend the students’ skills and learning capabilities (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2001). He/she should be able to understand the students’ motives and behaviors. The teacher should be fully aware of the legal aspects of the special education. As far as the knowledge of special education is concerned, the educator must be fully knowledgeable about the special education. He/she should be knowledgeable about the philosophy of special education. He/she should be fully aware of the history of the special education. He/she should be fully knowledgeable about the legal issues and aspects associated to special education. He/she should be fully knowledgeable about the instructions patterns in special education. He/she should be aware of the planning required for structuring and organizing a course for special students. The effective special educator is one who is aware of the particular needs of particularly disable students. An effective educator should have the relevant subject knowledge for educating the students with special needs (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2006). An effective special educator should have excellent communication skills. He/she should be able to engage the students with special needs in a positive communication or interaction process (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2006). Due to effective communication, the students will be able to learn and access knowledge. After attainment of knowledge, communication will also let them implement the gained knowledge. The special educator should be able to provide equal opportunity to each and every student to learn and develop. He/she should be able to create an environment that is motivating encouraging for the students to learn. There must be no prejudiced or biased attitude towards the students with special needs; the teacher must be neutral to all. The teacher must be able to assess students’ development and learning. The teachers must also show regard for variety (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2006). According to my perception, these skills will not change completely to the next decade but there will be some amendments and improvements in the present set of principles by NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards because with the passage of time, it is seen that the profession of teaching is made better than before. As far as the education of students with special needs is concerned, there will be improvement in teaching in this field as well. Conclusion It is quite clear that NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) Exceptional Needs Standards are helpful in enabling teachers to be well equipped with additional skills and knowledge required for teaching students with special needs. The teacher should not have only the knowledge required for teaching to students with special needs; he/she must have full knowledge related to special education, legal aspects associated to special education, communicative skills, management skills, organization skills, planning and much more. The teacher must be able to assess the students’ performance and his/her development. Overall, it is apparent that NBPTS Exceptional Needs Standards is a set of beneficial principles for teachers. References Bond, L., Smith, T. W., Baker, W. K. and Hattie, J. A. (2000). The certification system of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: A construct and consequential validity study. Greensboro, NC: Center for Educational Research and Evaluation. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2001). The impact of National Board Certification on teachers: A survey of National Board Certified Teachers and assessors. Arlington, VA: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2006). Early Childhood through Young Adulthood/Exceptional Needs Specialist. Arlington, VA: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Read More