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Jenna Nehms – Director of Career Advancement

Shakira Cummings-McCall – Educational Associate, Career Advancement

Samra Mekonen – Educational Associate, Career Advancement

Blueprint Career Ladder –

Teacher Information Session

SESSION RECORDING

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Agenda

Part I: Career Ladder Overview

Vision
Pathway Overview
Movement & Requirements

Part II: Teacher Leadership Positions

Eligibility Requirements
Hiring and Selection
Placement
Timelines

Part III: National Board Certification

Overview of Process
Eligibility Requirements
Fee Support
Timelines

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Blueprint Career Ladder Vision

The Blueprint Career Ladder is a comprehensive career advancement system that fosters continuous professional growth, recognizes and rewards exemplary teaching practices, provides opportunities for leadership and specialized roles, and allows for exceptional educators to stay in the classroom, ultimately enhancing the quality of education and student outcomes in Baltimore City Public Schools.

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EDUCATOR TRACK

TEACHER LEADERSHIP TRACK

ENHANCED LEADERSHIP TRACK*

Teacher 1a – A conditionally certified or resident certificate teacher whose primary role is leading instruction and advancing their certification.

Teacher 1b – A professionally licensed teacher whose primary role is leading instruction.

Teacher 2 – A professionally licensed teacher whose primary role is leading instruction and is a National Board Certification Candidate.

National Board Certified Teacher – A tenured, National Board Certified Teacher that holds a professional license whose primary role is leading instruction and supporting school and district initiatives based on need and expertise. This is a Teacher Level 3 position.

Instructional Practice Lead (IPL) – A tenured educator that holds a professional license whose primary role is to coach and mentor teachers.

Content Lead (CL) – A tenured educator that holds a professional license whose primary role is to provide specialized academic and content support services.

Academic Intervention Lead (AIL) – A tenured educator that holds a professional license whose primary role is to lead intervention programs.

NBC Lead Teacher

Distinguished Teacher

Professor Distinguished Teacher

*Level 4 positions are currently under development and are only available to National Board Certified Teachers

Blueprint Career Ladder - Overview

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Instructional Practice Lead

Content Lead

NBC Lead

Distinguished

Professor Distinguished

Level 4 (Under Development)

Teacher 1a

Teacher 1b

(Non-NBC)

Academic Intervention Lead

Teacher 2 (Non-NBC)

Teacher 3

(NBCT)

Pathway Options

Pathway Placement

National Board Certified Teacher

Opportunity Culture

(TL1b, TL2, TL3)

Opportunity Culture

MCL I, II, III

Teacher Leadership Track (TL1b, TL2, TL3)

Teacher Leadership Track (TL3)

Blueprint Career Ladder - Overview

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Agenda

Part I: Career Ladder Overview

Vision
Pathway Overview
Movement & Requirements

Part II: Teacher Leadership Positions

Eligibility Requirements
Hiring and Selection
Placement
Timelines

Part III: National Board Certification

Overview of Process
Eligibility Requirements
Fee Support
Timelines

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Instructional Practice Lead (IPL)

The IPL is a partial-release teacher responsible for enhancing instructional practices through co-planning, co-teaching, modeling instruction, coaching, and providing feedback to colleagues.

This role focuses on improving teaching effectiveness and student outcomes, helping schools develop a robust learning culture. The district will be introducing this position in SY25-26.

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Academic Intervention Lead (AIL)

The Teacher – Academic Intervention Lead (AIL) is a partial-release teacher responsible for supporting and coordinating intervention decisions and practices through consultation with teachers, meetings with families, and engaging partners providing support.

By working in collaboration with various stakeholders to drive student success, AILs ensure that educators receive the support they need to drive student outcomes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration within the classroom.

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Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible to apply for the IPL and AIL position, teacher must meet the following initial screening eligibility criteria:

Education: A Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
Licensure: A valid Maryland Standard Professional or Advanced Professional Teaching License.
Experience: At least three years of experience as a classroom teacher.
Tenure: Must be tenured in Baltimore City Public Schools.
Effectiveness: Consistently demonstrated consistent effective or highly effective practice
Student Learning Impact: Evidence of high-growth student learning through a data submission performance task

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IPL & AIL Hiring & Selection Process

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Application

Eligible candidates will submit their application for the IPL position through the district's application tracking system.

Data Narrative

Selected applicants will provide a data narrative documentation or video showcasing their instructional impact on students.

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BEI

Selected candidates will participate in a Behavioral Event Interview (BEI), where they will be assessed on key competencies.

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Pool

Selected candidates will be placed in a district-managed IPL pool. IPLs in the pool can interview with pilot schools.

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Matching

Schools will be matched with IPLs based on their specific needs and the expertise of the candidates.

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Application & Resume

Resume Guidance
3	2	1	0
Evidence of highly effective teaching, teamwork, and leadership with specific outcomes achieved (e.g., set and achieved a goal working with others); At least three years of classroom teaching experience is clearly outlined.	Evidence of effective teaching, and either teamwork or light leadership roles (leadership without specific outcomes or accountability); At least three years of classroom teaching experience is clearly outlined.	Describes effective teaching but lacks teamwork or leadership evidence, or contains more than three grammatical/spelling errors; Mention teaching experience but lacks clarity on the number of years or impact	No evidence of teaching effectiveness, teamwork, or leadership in previous work or volunteering; No mention of classroom teaching experience.

Tips for Strong Applications:

Focus on how your experiences align with the role.
Highlight specific outcomes or accomplishments in teaching, leadership, and teamwork, including years of classroom teaching experience.
Be sure your documents are error-free and clearly convey your enthusiasm and qualifications for the IPL role.

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Data Narrative

Data Narrative Guidance
3	2	1	0
Provide multiple types of evidence showing highly effective teaching over the required years, along with clear leadership outcomes (goals achieved working with others).	Provide at least one type of evidence showing effective teaching, along with light leadership roles (without specific outcomes).	Submit data that does not show effective teaching (e.g., missing required years, negative growth, or lack of proficiency gains).	Incomplete data submission (e.g., missing narrative, data sources, or baseline comparisons).

Tips for Data Narrative:

Include specific evidence of teaching effectiveness and measurable student outcomes.
Show leadership achievements with clear goals and results.
Ensure data is complete, with proper comparisons and explanations.

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Behavior Event Interview

A Behavioral Event Interview is a specialized interview technique focused on past events to uncover key patterns of behavior or thinking that better predict future success.
Research has repeatedly shown that they increase your chances of hiring the right candidate by 50–90%, and is a stronger predictor of success than:

Reference checks
Years of experience
Education (degrees, college attended)
Unstructured interviews and hypothetical questions
Technical skills that can be learned on the job

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Behavior Event Interview

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Behavior Event Interview

Applicable Roles	Critical Competency	Definition
Applicable Roles	Critical Competency	Definition
IPL, AIL MCL™ Educator, and RSPL	Achievement (ACH)	The drive and actions to set challenging goals and reach a high standard of performance despite barriers.
MCL™ Educator, RSPL	Developing Others (DO)	Influence with the specific intent to increase the short- and long-term effectiveness of another person.
IPL	Belief in Learning Potential (BLP)	A belief that all students, regardless of circumstances, can learn at levels higher than their current achievement indicates.
AIL	Interpersonal Understanding (IU)	The ability to interpret and respond to others’ motivations, concerns, and behaviors—critical for working across multiple stakeholders and supporting teachers/adults.

Tips for BEI:

Specific Examples: Think of concrete, real-life examples of times when you demonstrated skills relevant to the position. The more specific and quantifiable the example, the better.
Focus on the “Action”: In each example, spend time explaining the specific actions you took. Interviewers want to know what you did, how you handled the situation, and why you made those decisions.
Be Prepared to Be Redirected and Answer Probing Questions: In BEI interviews, you may be asked follow-up or probing questions to dive deeper into your examples. Be ready for the interviewer to redirect you for more details or clarification. Keep your responses flexible, and use these opportunities to further demonstrate your depth of experience.

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IPL & AIL Pool

Duration of Participation: You may be part of the IPL Candidate Pool for up to 3 years. Alternatively, you can choose to commit to being part of the pool for the upcoming school year (SY 2025-26), with flexibility based on evolving needs and availability.�
Ongoing Pool Participation: Regardless of whether you are selected and matched for an IPL position in SY 2025-26, you will remain part of the candidate pool for potential future IPL positions, allowing continued opportunities for selection as new positions arise.

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Matching Process for IPL & AIL Candidates

Access to the Candidate Pool: Principals who have allocated the IPL position in their school’s budget for the upcoming school year will have exclusive access to the IPL Candidate Pool.�
Interview Process: Principals can directly contact and interview selected candidates to ensure the best fit for their school's IPL needs, considering both the individual’s qualifications and the school’s goals.�
Principal as Hiring Manager: As the hiring manager for the IPL position, principals will make the final selection of the candidate, ensuring the decision is tailored to their school’s unique context and requirements.

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Agenda

Part I: Career Ladder Overview

Vision
Pathway Overview
Movement & Requirements

Part II: Teacher Leadership Positions

Eligibility Requirements
Hiring and Selection
Placement
Timelines

Part III: National Board Certification

Overview of Process
Eligibility Requirements
Fee Support
Timelines

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Why Pursue

National Board Certification?

National Board Certification is a rigorous process to help teachers reflection on their practice and awards teachers for their excellence.

$10,000 salary incentive for eligible NBCTs and additional $7,000 salary incentive for teaching at a state identified Low Performing School

City Schools provides National Board Candidates with a variety of supports and access to the NBCT community.

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What is Lorem Ipsum?

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

Header Here

What is Lorem Ipsum?

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

Certification Areas

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Content Knowledge Assessment
Assessment, which is in 4 parts
40% of portfolio weight

Component 1

Differentiation in Instruction
Portfolio entry
15% of portfolio weight

Component 2

Teaching Practice and Learning Environment
Portfolio entry, and includes video of instruction
30% of portfolio weight

Component 3

Effective and Reflective Practitioner
Portfolio entry
15% of portfolio weight

Component 4

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To apply for National Board Certification, candidates must possess:

A bachelor’s degree*
A valid state teaching license
Three (3) years of classroom or school counselor experience prior to starting certification process

To be eligible for the fee support program through MSDE, candidates must:

Meet the NBPTS eligibility criteria
Meet the definition of “teacher” (see Md. Ed. Article 6-1001 & accompanying state guidance)
Hold a MD professional certificate at the time of applying for fee support

*Note: Candidates for the Career and Technical Education certificate are required to hold a bachelor’s degree only if their state required one for their current license.

Determine Your Eligibility

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Candidates completing the World Languages certificate must also provide American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) certificates of Advanced Low or higher from ACTFL speaking and writing proficiency assessments. Teachers are asked to verify their eligibility during registration and may be asked to provide proof of meeting these requirements.

Not required to hold Bachelor’s in this state for CTE, that is ok for us

Need valid MD state teaching license

MSDE will no longer cover the cost for school counseling NBC

If you want to do it for school counseling, you can still pursue NBC just not eligible

If you are in year 3 now, you are eligible – if you are in year 2 and will start year 3 you are not eligible

You need to fill out an eligibility form, we will check and confirm, and then send to MSDE

Maryland National Board Certification State and Local Incentive Program

Public school teachers, who meet the definition of “teacher” and the eligibility criteria established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) are eligible.

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To apply for National Board Certification, candidates must possess:

A bachelor’s degree*
A valid state teaching license
Three (3) years of classroom or school counselor experience prior to starting certification process

To be eligible for the fee support program through MSDE, candidates must:

Meet the NBPTS eligibility criteria
Meet the definition of “teacher” (see Md. Ed. Article 6-1001 & accompanying state guidance)
Hold a MD professional certificate at the time of applying for fee support

*Note: Candidates for the Career and Technical Education certificate are required to hold a bachelor’s degree only if their state required one for their current license.

Determine Your Eligibility

Recent updates to the law have expanded eligibility for Fee Support to “Non-Classroom Teachers.”

Eligibility for Fee Support does not guarantee eligibility for NBC Salary Incentives.

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Candidates completing the World Languages certificate must also provide American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) certificates of Advanced Low or higher from ACTFL speaking and writing proficiency assessments. Teachers are asked to verify their eligibility during registration and may be asked to provide proof of meeting these requirements.

Not required to hold Bachelor’s in this state for CTE, that is ok for us

Need valid MD state teaching license

MSDE will no longer cover the cost for school counseling NBC

If you want to do it for school counseling, you can still pursue NBC just not eligible

If you are in year 3 now, you are eligible – if you are in year 2 and will start year 3 you are not eligible

You need to fill out an eligibility form, we will check and confirm, and then send to MSDE

Maryland National Board Certification State and Local Incentive Program

Public school teachers, who meet the definition of “teacher” and the eligibility criteria established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) are eligible.

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Fee Support Incentive Program

The State pays the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) an amount equal to the fees associated with the initial completion and maintenance of NBC.
Each candidate may only receive payment for one retake of each assessment on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
A candidate who does not complete the NBC process must reimburse the State the full amount of funds received.
A candidate who completes the NBC process but does not achieve certification is not subject to repayment.

Annual Registration Fee (non-refundable)	$75
Initial candidacy/per component	$1,900/$475
Maintenance of Certification (MOC)	$495
Retake fees Full C1/per C1 subtest/ C2, C3, C4	$500/$125/ $475

NBC Fees

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Completing National Board Certification may take anywhere from one to five years, including the window of time for retakes.

National Board Certification Eligibility Window

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City Schools employees can submit an intent form to initiate the eligibility screening for obtaining an official application for the National Board Certification Fee Support Program through MSDE
The intent form deadline for SY 2025-26 was May 16, 2025
The application deadline for SY 2026-27 has not yet been released
Please check City Schools Scoop in the early spring to stay informed regarding the application deadline and dates to attend fee support information sessions to learn more details about the process

Fee Support Program Application Process

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Career Ladder and IPL Position questions – Contact Jenna Nehms at jshaw@bcps.k12.md.us

National Board Certification or the Fee Support Program questions – NBC@bcps.k12.md.us

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