Recruitment

Direct Recruiting Efforts to Attract Minorities Team

NBPTS and its partner Hewlett Packard created the Direct Recruiting Efforts to Attract Minorities (DREAM) Team to highlight the importance of National Board Certification for minority teachers and their students. The DREAM Team actively recruits minority certification candidates and strives to increase minority educators' access to quality candidate support. The DREAM Team works to:

• Diffuse misconceptions about the assessment experience
• Address the more immediate needs of candidate support providers
• Provide face-to-face opportunities for minority educators
• Engage teachers in open dialogue about the affective nature of the National Board Certification process; provide teachers with an opportunity to share best practices

2006-2007 DREAM Team sites

DREAM Team sites are chosen based on the following criteria:

• Access to candidate support and readiness to support new candidates
• High populations of minority teachers and a disproportionate number of minority NBCTs
• States and/or local districts offer financial incentives to NBCTs and may provide candidate fee support to candidates
• Evidence of a strong desire by the state, local district or region to increase the number of minority teachers pursuing and achieving National Board Certification.

Birmingham City, Ala.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Seattle, Wash.
Broward County, Fla.
Detroit, Mich.
Montgomery County, Md.
Baton Rouge, La.
Clark County, Nev.
Tallahassee, Fla.
Salem, Ark.
Memphis, Tenn.

2006-2007 DREAM Team in Their Own Words 

Birmingham City, Ala.
Stephanie Truer, NBCT and Jacqueline Lampley, NBCT
"The DREAM Team’s role is simple:

• Through the DREAM team we are able to share, live and invite other minority teachers into our dream as minority National Board Certified Teachers.
• This team allows us, as minorities to dream big for the children, because sometimes, the children can not dream big for themselves

Recruiting minority teachers into the National Board Certification program not only allows the teachers to establish themselves as great practitioners, who have reflected upon and questioned their practice, but it places highly qualified teachers into the classrooms of our most deserving children."

Baton Rouge, La.
Rosa Jefferson, NBCT
"Our goal as members of the DREAM Team is to increase the number of ethnic minority NBCTs in the Greater Baton Rouge Area and increase the number of minorities involved in the Take One! program. I see my role as member of the DREAM Team is to bring and highlight the fact that many minority teachers are being successful completing the progress. I carry the message, "If I can than you can." I believe that NBCTs are an essential component in improving students, teaching and schools."