Video and DVD Instructions

A video/DVD entry will not be disqualified because of its length. If it is not as long as the entry allows, the critical question is whether it includes everything that was specified in the entry instructions. For an entry that requires a 15-minute recording, it is doubtful that a 3-minute recording will demonstrate all of the teacher-student and student-student interaction that the entry may require, while an 11-minute recording might easily meet the entry requirements for interaction. In general, it is not advisable to submit an entry that is less than half the maximum length. While submitting a recording that exceeds the time limit does not disqualify your entry, assessors will not view those that go beyond the stated time limit.

Candidates should be filming their entire classroom. In other words, every student on the roster who is present and whose parents/guardians have submitted a Student Release Form should be in the classroom when the film is being made. Teachers should not "pick and choose" which students to feature.

The date and time (correct or otherwise) will not be considered a graphic and will not affect the score of your entry.

Yes, you may submit a video/DVD that reveals your state. This will not divulge your precise location.

Yes. It is permissible for a student whose work is featured in a classroom-based entry to appear in your video/DVD. Remember that the recordings you use for the portfolio must feature different lessons from different units. There must be no overlap between the lessons and units in the video/DVD entries or among the classroom-based entries.

You may submit a copy of this instruction if the entry permits instructional artifacts or assessment artifacts.

Each of the entries requiring video supporting evidence should feature your work with a single student in the context of your choice. If you are not working directly with the featured student for a portion of the video/DVD segment, it should be discussed in the commentary. The choice of context for the video/DVD is your professional decision, reflecting teaching style, knowledge of the student's needs and best practices for a given student at a particular stage of the development in a particular setting or context. The portfolio is intended to be flexible enough to encompass the broad range of the Exceptional Needs Specialist field.

No, your video/DVD will not be disqualified because you or one of your students is wearing a nametag. Many teachers wear nametags because of security measures.

Yes, you will need a signed Student Release Form for any student or a signed Adult Release Form for any adult who can be identified in the video/DVD, even though they were not part of the lesson.

Yes, you may use the same class for both videos/DVDs. NBPTS encourages teachers to use more than one class in completing the portfolio entries in order to demonstrate the broadest range of their teaching practice. Therefore, teachers who have multiple classes that meet the age and content requirements should take advantage of the availability of these different classes when completing the classroom-based entries.

Yes, your face should be shown clearly and sufficiently enough in the recording to identify you (the image of you in your photo ID and the image of you in your video should be similar enough to make an identification). However, what is more crucial in the video/DVD entries is that some of the footage allows assessors to see the facial expressions of both you and your students. Facial expressions, along with action and sound, provide assessors with important information about the effectiveness of the communication between you and your students. These elements plus the Written Commentary should work together to meet the entry requirements and give assessors a clear understanding of what you are trying to convey about your teaching.

An edit is a stop in the video/DVD regardless of whether or not the camera was "paused" or stopped accidentally. An edit will appear to the assessor as a break or a missing piece of the action. Stopping and restarting the camera or the sound during recording will be regarded as an edit and the video/DVD will not be scored.

If a brief disturbance occurs during the lesson that you are recording, you may still be able to use the video/DVD. Interruptions such as someone knocking on the door to your classroom, an announcement on the public address system, or your telephone ringing are all routine parts of a teaching day. As long as the situation is brief enough that you can get the lesson back on track without causing much delay or confusion, the lesson may still be suitable for submission with your portfolio. If someone accidentally identifies any person by his or her full name during the recording, you should not let this keep you from submitting the video of that lesson. (Do not edit the video to "bleep" out the last name; doing so would be regarded as editing the video/DVD and would disqualify it.) The mention of someone's name in a video/DVD should not be disruptive or repeated. However, you must still take care not to mention anyone by his or her full name in your Written Commentary and other written work.

Teacher redirection is a routine part of classroom management and including it in your video/DVD will not disqualify the video/DVD and it will not automatically lower the score. Be sure you are working with your students when commenting and not addressing the situation just for the camera.

Standard VHS format is required as scoring sites are currently equipped to handle only this format. Because the candidate must retain a back-up copy of the tape, as required in the entry directions, submitting a non-standard tape in an adapter is not acceptable.

For Video: In the Get Started section of the portfolio instructions are "Video Recording Practical Matters" which advise candidates that they should make a copy of their videos prior to submitting any materials to NBPTS. The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM also includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials — including videos — become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

For DVD: The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials -- including DVDs -- become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

Teacher redirection is a routine part of classroom management and including it in your footage will not disqualify the DVD or automatically lower the score. Be sure you are working with your students when commenting and not addressing the situation just for the camera.

Use a standard single-sided DVD-R = Recordable format disc. DO NOT use double-sided discs, mini DVDs (8 cm/3.1 inches), or discs of other formats (i.e., DVD, DVD+R, DVDRW, DVD+RW). The DVD-R is the most commonly used disc and the format that is most compatible with the largest number of DVD players. In addition, we strongly recommend you select a silver or metallic color disc so that identifying information you write on the disc can be clearly seen.

The Pack & Ship section of the portfolio CD-ROM includes this advice under "Submitting Your Portfolio." This will be an invaluable step in the event your submission is lost en route to the NBPTS Processing Center, or arrives in a damaged condition. It is important to understand that, once submitted, all candidate materials -- including DVDs -- become the property of NBPTS and will not be returned to the candidate.

If you are submitting an entry on DVD it is not necessary to submit a VHS version.

The DVD instructions included in your portfolio box include directions for preparing and labeling your DVD. You should not place any type of label directly onto the DVD. This may cause it to become jammed in the DVD player during scoring. Be sure to review the Pack & Ship section of your CD-ROM as well to ensure you satisfy all the requirements for packing your entry.

The portfolio return due date will be the same regardless of the method used for submission.

No. Your original materials will not be returned to you after scoring.

All candidate entries will be treated the same regardless of the method used for submission. You will not have an advantage or a disadvantage because you choose to submit an entry on DVD instead of VHS.

You should not submit more than one entry per DVD. If you are submitting two video entries, you will need two separate DVDs.

Our goal is to respond to all inquiries within 3 to 5 business days. If your inquiry is older than that, something has probably “interfered” with our response to you. This interference is usually caused by the settings on a Spam filter, either at your Internet Service Provider or on your computer. Before you send a second inquiry:

Check with your Internet Service Provider to make sure that e-mails to you from domain @nbpts.org are not being blocked.
Check the Spam blocker controls on your e-mail system in your computer. You may find this under Junk Mail, Spam Blocker, etc. For example, in Outlook under Actions, then Junk E-Mail on the toolbar, you are offered options to:

• Add Sender to Blocked Senders List
• Add Sender to Safe Senders List
• Add Sender’s domain (@example.com) to Safe Senders List
• Add Recipient to Safe Recipients List

In this situation, you should add the domain @nbpts.org to the Safe Senders List.

It is acceptable to have title menus at the beginning that shows Candidate ID and Entry number (this is similar to when you start any DVD).  This is acceptable as long as only your unedited video entry is evident after “play” is started. Each DVD burning application works a little differently - some Macs automatically create a slide show that plays during the menu with clips from the video. You will not be penalized for this. Be sure to use your Candidate ID number and entry; do not include your name in the menu.

In an effort to give every candidate an equal opportunity to achieve, certain guidelines have been established for the submission of videotapes/DVD-Rs. Candidates may not submit "edited" videos, defined as post-production processing of the video itself, or cuts in an otherwise continuous segment. Examples of editing include the elimination of unwanted segments, additional footage, fade-ins and fade-outs, the addition of audio recorded on a device other than the video recorder, and the "blurring" of an image to conceal a face or nametag. In addition, videotape segments may not be created with two or more cameras, giving the tape a "studio" effect.

Yes, amplifying the sound to enhance the audio on a video is acceptable as long as the amplification of the audio does not conflict with the post-production editing guidelines discussed in the FAQ above.