Take 1/Entry 3 Instructional Context Questions for National Board Portfolio

1. Instructional Context

Provide the following information in addition to the context that you supply on the Contextual

Information Sheet, which focuses on the school or district at large. In this section, address

the following questions about your selected class:

¡ What are the number, ages, and grades of the students in the class featured in this entry,

and what is the subject matter of the class? (Example: 24 students in grade 2, ages 7 and

8, science and mathematics)

¡ What are the relevant characteristics of this class that influenced your instructional

strategies for this learning sequence: ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity; the range 

of abilities of the students; the personality of the class?

¡ What are the relevant characteristics of the students with exceptional needs and abilities

that influenced your planning for this learning sequence (for example, the range of

abilities and the cognitive, social/behavioral, attentional, sensory, and/or physical

challenges of your students)? Give any other information that might help the assessor

“see” this class.

¡ What are the relevant features of your teaching context that influenced the selection 

of this learning sequence? This might include other realities of the social and physical

teaching context (e.g., available resources, scheduling of classes, room allocation—own

classroom or shared space) that are relevant to your response.

¡ What particular instructional challenges does the class chosen for this entry represent?

What particular dynamics of the class does an assessor need to know about to understand

the sequence of instruction? This might include, but is not limited to, a description of your

students’ skills, knowledge, and previous experiences that relates to your teaching.

Suggested total page length for Instructional Context: 1 page