CD-ROM and Technical Issues

Assessors should be able to hear all of what you say and most of what your students say on the recording, however, you should not submit a transcript unless one or more of the following conditions apply:

• If your video/DVD includes brief occasions of manual language without voicing, you must submit a transcript of the conversation from those occasions. The transcript of these passages may be incorporated into your Written Commentary (without exceeding page limit for the Written Commentary). In the transcript, reference the manual language that is being used (e.g. American Sign Language).
• Similarly, if the student's speech is unintelligible because of technical difficulties or because of speech impairment, you must submit a transcript of the student's remarks. The transcript of the student's speech may be incorporated into your Written Commentary. However, the Written Commentary should not exceed allowable number of pages.
• If your video/DVD is extensively or exclusively in manual language with or without voicing, you do not  have to submit a transcript. Interpreters will be available during the scoring process to allow assessors to understand what is being said.
• Candidates who exercise the Spanish Language Option complete the same portfolio entries and assessment center exercises as their certificate-area colleagues; however, these candidates may submit student work and video recordings for the portfolio that are in Spanish accompanied by an English language translation. The Written Commentary accompanying each portfolio entry and the responses to the assessment center exercises, however, must be in English. A written English translation of any written student work and/or a written transcription in English of any video evidence submitted in Spanish is required in order for the responses to be scored. Pages containing translations do not count against the page totals  specified in the entry directions.
• If expressions or phrases in languages other than English and/or Spanish are included, candidates should include brief explanations in the Written Commentary that accompanies each portfolio response.

Verify that your CD-ROM drive is properly connected to your hard drive. Verify that your operating system and hardware meet the following requirements:

Contact NBPTS at 800-22TEACH. NBPTS will send a replacement CD. Have your candidate ID number ready to provide to the Customer Service Representative.

Make sure that JavaScript and cascading style sheets are enabled. Check your browser's help files for more information about how to do this. Verify that you are running one of the following supported browser versions:

Make sure JavaScript and cascading style sheets are enabled. Check your browser's help files for more information about how to do this. Verify display settings are set to at least 800x600 and that fonts are set correctly.

Check to see if images are enabled in your browser. Check your browser's help files for more information about how to do this.

Contact us at 800-22TEACH. If the CD is damaged so that the navigation links cannot be accessed, NBPTS will send you a replacement CD-ROM.

Check to make sure you have an active Internet connection. If you have an active Internet connection and cannot access a Web address through a link provided on the CD, please check to see if you can access the link successfully from your browser. If not, the link on your CD may be broken and should be reported to NBPTS so that a correction can be made and a replacement CD sent to you.

Try to access the link to the section using the Index found on the right navigation bar in Resources. If you can't link from the Index, contact NBPTS at 800-22TEACH to receive a replacement CD.

Yes. We've designed the CD-ROM to accommodate your viewing preferences. Please see your browser's help file for how to change the font size.

If you do not have Microsoft Word® installed on your computer, a free viewer is available from Microsoft. Microsoft Office® Converters and Viewers and technical support are available online at www.microsoft.com.

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you may download it for free from Adobe at www.adobe.com.

Make sure there is paper in the printer, your printer is properly set up, and switched on.

Confirm that cascading style sheets are enabled in your browser. You should also make sure your browser is the most current version.

Graphics will not be included in printouts. We've designed the CD-ROM so that the content is printer friendly and graphics were excluded to reduce print time.

Check to make sure your margins in page setup are appropriate. Suggested value for all margins is 0.5 inches.

A search function was not added to the CD. You can, however, navigate to any section of the CD-ROM by using the links in the Index. In addition, Adobe Acrobat Reader has a search function ("Find") that you can use to find words or phrases in the PDF of the portfolio instructions.

Two navigation tools are provided for this purpose. At the top of every screen, there are four buttons: "Intro"; "Get Started"; "Entries"; and "Pack & Ship." When you roll over each of these buttons, a drop-down menu will appear. To access a section click on the links listed in the drop-down menus. The second navigation tool is the Index. A link to every section of the CD-ROM is included in the Index.

These links were included as "desktop references". Each link represents a resource that you may need to access as you are preparing your entries:

Click on "Home" in the right-hand banner.

If you've finished with a section, e.g., the Intro, and want to move onto Get Started, you may use the navigation buttons at the top of the screen or the links provided in the Index.

If you are using an Apple/Macintosh Computer, make sure you are opening the disc using Internet Explorer. Your computer settings may automatically attempt to open the disc using your default browser, which is not compatible with our CD-ROM.