Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 005 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division 16 - Division of Human Resources ***
Rule 005.16.07-009 - ADE 255 - Rules Governing Eligibility and Financial Incentives for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

1.01 These rules shall be known as the Department of Education (the Department) Rules Governing the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Program (NBPTS Program).

1.02 These rules are enacted under the State Board of Education's (State Board) authority pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-11-105, 6-17-412, and 6-17-413.

2.01 The purposes of these rules are to improve student learning by strengthening teaching and to encourage teachers to participate in and complete NBPTS certification by authorizing the Department to pay full tuition and incentive bonuses to participants and by establishing eligibility requirements.

2.02 The purpose of these rules is to outline the establishment of a support program for NBPTS.

2.03 The purpose of these rules is to establish the mechanism for the selection of teacher participants, as determined by the amount of funding available for the program.

3.01 "Completion of the certification process" will be defined as officially being recognized as a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) by the NBPTS.

3.02 "National Board for Professional Teaching Standards" will be defined as an independent board which reliably identifies and certifies teachers who meet advanced standards and certifications by effectively enhancing student learning and demonstrating the high level of knowledge and skills, dispositions, and commitments reflected in the following five core propositions:

3.03 "A support program for candidates" is a comprehensive process of technical and financial assistance provided to program applicants to ensure successful program completion, as Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-413 allows.

3.04 "The NBPTS Advisory Committee" (the Committee) is a ten (10) member team of three (3) National Board Certified Teachers, three (3) National Board facilitators, and four (4) educational administration or business representatives, to include one Department staff member, which will advise the Department on policy issues, assist in the support system, and select candidates based on relevant criteria when all candidates cannot be funded; such criteria to be established by the Committee in accordance with law and with final review and approval by the State Board.

3.05 "Classroom teacher" means a teacher who is required to hold a standard teaching license from the Department and who is engaged directly in instruction with students in a classroom setting for more than seventy percent (70%) of the individual's contracted time, with that 70% allowed to include:

3.06 "Classroom setting" for purposes of candidacy means full-time assignment to a setting in a specific Arkansas public school building or buildings in which a teacher works directly with a student or students and for purposes of a starting or a yearly bonus means full-time assignment to a setting in a school building(s) or other instructional settings cited in §3.05.05 where an NBCT is directly involved in the instructional process by teaching children, by facilitating the instructional process through work with building teachers in classrooms, or by serving in the role of building administrator, assistant building administrator, district curriculum administrator, or program administrator.

3.07 "Starting bonus" means a one-time bonus given during the school year in which an individual first obtains National Board certification. The amount is $3,000 in 2003-2004, $4,000 in 2004-2005, and $5,000 thereafter. This provision shall apply only to the extent that necessary funds are appropriated to the Department.

3.08 "Yearly bonus" means a bonus that a NBCT receives in each of years two (2) through ten (10) of the 10-year life of the certificate. The amount is $3,000 in 2003-2004, $4,000 in 2004-2005, and $5,000 thereafter. This provision shall apply only to the extent that necessary funds are appropriated to the Department.

3.09 "Two (2) continuous years" means a two-year period following certification that includes the year of certification and the year immediately following certification.

3.10 "Three (3) years of teaching in the Arkansas public school system", as required for state support of candidacy, shall be credited beginning no earlier than the year in which the initial license to teach in an Arkansas public school is issued.

4.01 Qualified applicants will establish eligibility for funding by:

4.02 When candidate demands exceed funding availability, the NBPTS Advisory Committee will review and recommend to the Department an appropriate selection of candidates to be funded.

4.03 At the time that the National Board establishes a certification for school administrators and an Arkansas district-level central office administrator becomes national board certified, the district level central office administrator will be eligible to receive incentive bonuses in the amount awarded to NBCTs for every year for the life of the NBPTS administrator's certificate.

4.04 Achieving NBCT status prior to renewal of the Arkansas standard teaching license satisfies professional development requirements for the period between the beginning and end of that one renewal period; achieving a total score of 225 across all of the ten entries submitted to the NBPTS satisfies one-half of the professional development requirements for the period between the beginning and end of one renewal period.

5.01 The Department of Education shall pay full tuition for the NBPTS initial participation fee, one retake entry fee, and up to three days of school release time to qualified teacher applicants as funds are available.

5.02 The Department shall pay any NBCT who is employed in an Arkansas public school district (except as prescribed in Section 5.02.1) as a teacher in accordance with Section 3.05-3.06 of these rules a starting bonus in the first year of certification and a yearly bonus for each of the remaining nine years of the ten-year certificate.

5.03 Any NBCT who moves into the state and teaches in an Arkansas public school classroom shall be eligible for the yearly bonus for every remaining year in the life of the NBPTS certificate; provided that the same bonus is available to a NBCT who moves into the state and assumes the position of building administrator, assistant building administrator, district curriculum administrator, or program administrator in a public school district for the life of the NBPTS certificate.

5.04 Available funds for NBPTS state activities support functions in this order of priority:

5.05 No increase in the starting or yearly bonus is retroactive.

5.06 The Department will issue a standard Arkansas teaching license to any National Board certified teacher, building-level principal, or building level assistant principal trained in and licensed by a state other than Arkansas who moves to Arkansas, provided that the NBCT status is current at the time of license application and that the applicant passes the required criminal background check.

5.07 An Arkansas-licensed teacher who personally pays the expenses of NBPTS candidacy and becomes a NBCT is eligible for a starting and yearly bonus under the same terms as a NBCT who achieves certification through state fee support.

5.08 The Department shall pay any NBCT who has successfully completed the NBPTS certification as a classroom teacher and is employed in an Arkansas public school district as a building administrator, assistant building administrator, district curriculum administrator, or program administrator a yearly bonus for each of the remaining years of the ten-year certificate.

5.09 Provisions of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-17-412 and 6-17-413 apply only to the extent that necessary funds are appropriated to the Department.

6.01 Repayment of state funds for the NBPTS is required if a recipient:

6.02 Repayment of funds is not required only due to:

6.03 The State Board can revoke a teaching license for failure to repay state funds.

7.01 The State Board will establish a support program for teachers selected to participate in NBPTS by:

8.01 The local public school district that employs a NBCT must verify to the Department annually the employment status of that teacher for each year of the ten-year life of the certificate.

8.02 No person shall receive either a starting bonus or a yearly bonus if the person leaves the full-time employment of an Arkansas public school district; becomes employed as a district-level central office administrator (subject to the provisions of Section 4.03); is employed by an Arkansas institution of higher education; or is employed by an education service cooperative and does not teach in a classroom with students as defined in Sections 3.05-3.06 of these rules.

9.01 Provisions of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-17-412 and 6-17-413 apply only to the extent that funds are appropriated to the Department to pay for these provisions.

9.02 To the extent funds as provided for by Ark. Code Ann. § 26-52-311(c)(3)(B) are available, such funds may be used to fund the "starting incentive bonus" and the "yearly incentive bonus" required in §§3.07 and 3.08 of these rules and required by Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-413.