The MA in Education program offers the following certifications that teachers can add to their teaching credential:
Croscultural, Language and Academic Development (CLAD)
National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
For specific information visit the (CLAD®/BCLAD®) Examinations California Teacher of English Learners (CTEL™) Examination Web site at http://www.ctel.nesinc.com/ or the NBPTS web site at http://www.nbpts.org/
CLAD - Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development
Content required for the CLAD credential is embedded in the following courses:
- MAE 631MAE 631: Appl Linguist Lang Acquisition
- MAE 634MAE 634: Literacy/Ling Diverse Learners
- MAE 636MAE 636: Culture, Cognition & Dev
These classes are only offered on as needed basis, and with a high class enrollment. You need not be in the MA in Education program to earn your CLAD certificate — any credentialled teacher is welcome to take these courses. After you have completed all three courses, you can apply for your CLAD certification. If you have completed part of the coursework elsewhere, inquire about a transcript evaluation.
NBPTS - National Board of Professional Teaching Standards
Teachers who are working toward National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification can earn up to 12 credits toward their MA in Education, and tailor their action thesis around their NBPTS portfolio. However, these classes are only offered on a needed basis, and with a high class enrollment. For more specific information visit the NBPTS web site at http://www.nbpts.org/.
The following describes the National Board strand in the MA in Education program. The National Board strand assumes that teachers will complete the same requirements as everyone else in the MA in Education program.
The following three core courses are required:
- MAE 639MAE 639: Reflective Teaching Practicum (This course is most helpful to teachers who are considering going for National Board certification, or just beginning to work on the process.)
- MAE 651MAE 651: National Board I (For this course, a teacher completes two of the 4 National Board portfolios. This is not a course that meets at CSUMB, but rather a linkage with a support through the Regional Professional Development Consortium, offered at the Monterey County Office of Education and Santa Cruz County Office of Education.)
- MAE 652MAE 652: National Board II (For this course, a teacher completes the remaining 2 National Board portfolios, also working with a support group as above.)
In addition, the requirement of competence in a language other than English through fourth semester level is required.
The following course is strongly recommended for everyone in the program:
- MAE 625MAE 625: Professional LiteratureSeminar
The Action Thesis, which is developed through the four required MA in Education courses, is modified as follows in the NBPTS Certificate Program. Rather than developing a new project or collecting data about a different question, the teacher selects a focus in the NBPTS portfolio work. Generally each portfolio has a focus, although a teacher may select a focus that cuts across more than one portfolio. The statement of purpose, literature review, and implications for future work, is then "wrapped around" the data used in the National Board portfolio. In Capstone ( MAE 670MAE 670: MAE Culminating Project), the main task of the teacher is to link together a focus or question, the literature, the reflection on one's own practice through classroom-based data from the NBPTS portfolio, and a thoughtful discussion of how one might continue to develop as a teacher based on all of this.