New program offers personalized video coaching from National Board Certified educators and flexible financing options to support educators in earning certification.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2019 – BloomBoard, the leading platform for educator training and advancement via micro-credentials, has announced a new micro-credential based National Board Pre-candidacy Program that supports educators throughout both pre-candidacy and candidacy with personalized video coaching from board-certified educators and flexible financing options designed to defer upfront costs and mitigate the potential costs of resubmissions. Developed in partnership with a select group of top National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs), the new program was designed to provide educators with a portfolio-based learning experience that will successfully prepare them to earn their National Board Certification and become part of the NBCT community of practice.
The Pre-candidacy Program is already garnering recognition from education leaders around the NBCT community, including the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. According to 2014 Arizona State Teacher of the Year and NBCT educator, Dr. Beth Maloney, “National Board Certification was the most powerful professional learning experience I’ve ever had. I believe that going through a pre-candidacy program made a huge difference and really enabled me to prepare for the experience. My practice has been forever changed for the better.”
As part of the program, participants will engage in portfolio-based learning via a series of micro-credentials focused on key teaching practices that will set them up for success on their journey to earning National Board certification. In addition to receiving real-time, video-based coaching from current board-certified teachers, participants will receive access to exemplar videos from National Board’s ATLAS library. Videos have been selected from successful National Board submissions and are embedded in the micro-credential framework that participants are required to complete during pre-candidacy.
To ease the financial commitment for educators who want to earn their certification, BloomBoard is also offering flexible financing options that allow participants to bundle and finance the cost of the pre-candidacy program and the National Board certification itself. This means the cost of the Pre-candidacy Support Program, National Board’s application fee, and the cost of all four components can be financed to provide flexibility for candidates during their process. As an added assurance for participants, the cost of the program also covers any necessary resubmissions that need to be made along their journey to certification.
“We’re excited to offer this program to support educators in the truly meaningful learning experience of National Board certification. Employing our portfolio-based micro-credentials to build educator competence in key skills that will enable their success, and pairing each educator with a certified NBCT coach to mentor them through the entire process, will create a powerful combination that we believe will enhance educators National Board Certification experience tremendously,” said Sanford Kenyon, CEO of BloomBoard.
Educators interested in learning more about BloomBoard’s National Board Pre-candidacy Program can visit bloomboard.com/program/national-board-pre. Upon completing the learn more form, an NBCT Pre-candidacy Counselor will reach out to talk through the program details and answer any questions you may have.
BloomBoard also offers program options for schools and districts that want to help educators increase their readiness and manage the upfront financial commitment for National Board Certification. Administrators that want to learn more about the program can visit bloomboard.com/program/national-board/ or contact hello@bloomboard.com to talk with a BloomBoard representative.
