Policy Change for Certification Requirements

The National Board is changing the eligibility requirements to begin the process of National Board Certification. We are opening up access to educators interested in the Board certification process by allowing candidates to begin the process of Board certification before completing three (3) years of successful teaching (or counseling for the School Counseling certificate area). While this change allows candidates to begin the process earlier, educators will need to complete three years of teaching employment to become Board-certified.

The Eligibility Policy Change impacts the requirements educators must meet to start their National Board journey. Every child deserves an accomplished teacher every day—and Board certification is an indispensable lever for making that ideal a reality. Every teacher deserves to be on the accomplished teaching pathway, and the National Board believes teachers should strive to become accomplished as early in their career as they believe they are capable of doing.

This policy opens access and removes barriers to educators by allowing them to begin the process of Board certification before completing three (3) years of successful teaching. We’re turning our attention to how we can be responsive to the changing demographics of the teaching profession, as the average years of experience teachers have trends lower, by creating opportunities for them to begin their pursuit of Board certification earlier in their careers. We’ve found that better supported early career teachers (ECTs) means increased retention, which means more experienced and effective teachers working with students. This is our effort to provide states with more options for educators on their Board certification journey–one being the traditional route (completing three (3) years of teaching experience before they begin their journey) and the new route (starting before they complete three (3) years of teaching)

National Board Certification is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education and remains the profession’s way to identify accomplished teachers.

The National Board believes that any teacher should be able to begin the process of demonstrating accomplished practice as soon as they are able. While the policy update changes how many years of experience a teacher must have before they begin, the following aspects of National Board Certification are not changing:

• All candidates for National Board Certification must still possess a bachelor’s degree and a valid state teaching license prior to registering in their first cycle and purchasing their first component(s) (see here for definitions and exceptions for Career and Technical Education and School Counseling certificate areas).
• The Five Core Propositions, Standards, and Architecture of Accomplished Teaching remain and will always describe accomplished practice.
• The components for certification and Maintenance of Certification are not changing as a result of this eligibility requirement change.
• The scoring process remains the same. Candidate submissions are evaluated against the standards-based rubric alone; years of experience is not evaluated or taken into account.
• Completing National Board Certification may take anywhere from one to five years, depending on the approach you take. The rules in the Guide to National Board Certification will still apply, for example:
  • You must still attempt each of the four components within the first three years of your candidacy.
  • You will still have a five-year window to achieve certification.
  • You will still have up to two retake attempts for each component.

Effective September 19, 2022, the National Board will open access to educators interested in the Board certification process by allowing candidates to begin the process of Board certification before completing three (3) years of successful teaching. While this change allows candidates to begin the process earlier, educators will need to complete three years of teaching employment to become Board-certified.

The table below provides an at-a-glance view of the upcoming change to Board certification eligibility requirements.

All requirements for National Board Certification are integral to the National Board’s standard of accomplished practice. Requiring three years of successful teaching or counseling helps to ensure all candidates possess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with effective teaching and experience over time as defined by the standards in each certificate area.

Part-time and long-term substitute teaching do count towards the three-year employment requirement. To calculate your actual years of employment, please refer to the instructions located on page three of the Eligibility Verification Forms and Instructions.

Yes. Visit our Candidate Center section and review the Guide to National Board Certification, download the and Eligibility Verification Forms to see if you meet the education, employment and licensure requirements. Please note that the computer-based assessment (Component 1) is only administered in the United States, some U.S. Territories and Puerto Rico.

As of September 19, 2022, candidates who hold a bachelor’s degree and a valid state teaching or school counseling license may begin the certification process before having completed three years of full-time teaching/counseling. (NOTE: Candidates for the Career and Technical Education certificate are required to hold a bachelor’s degree only if their state requires one for their current license).

You will need to have met the three-year employment requirement by the end of your third year of National Board candidacy. If you don’t meet the three (3) years of employment requirement by the end of your third year, you will not certify.

No. If you are already a candidate who has registered and purchased components, this policy change will not affect you.

While this policy change is open to all educators, you have the autonomy to decide what is best for your program and the candidates you support. We encourage you to consider the following questions:

• Do you want to retain or change your current programs?
• Do you have the ability to change your programs this year?
• Do you have the ability to change your programs but need more time to do so?
  What other stakeholders may be important to share this message with?

While this policy change is open to all educators, you have the autonomy to decide what is best for your local context. We encourage you to consider the following questions:
Do you want to retain or change your current policies?

• Do you have the ability to change your policies this year?
• Do you have the ability to change your policies but need more time to do so?
• What other stakeholders may be important to share this message with?

Yes. A candidate must meet all eligibility and scoring requirements, including the three-year employment requirement, in order to achieve National Board Certification. Requiring three years of successful teaching or counseling helps to ensure all candidates possess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with effective teaching and experience over time as defined by the standards in each certificate area.

The National Board routinely audits first-time candidate records and requests proof of meeting eligibility requirements. Teachers who begin candidacy prior to completing three (3) years of successful teaching or counseling will be subject to the same audits, but instead of being audited for all eligibility requirements at the same time, they will be eligible for audit twice: Upon first-time registration and component purchase for their education and license eligibility and again upon attesting to having completed three (3) years of employment. Detailed explanation of audit procedures that accompany this change in the eligibility requirement will be available in September 2022.

All candidates for National Board Certification must still possess a bachelor’s degree and a valid state teaching license prior to registering in their first cycle and purchasing their first component(s) (see here for definitions and exceptions for Career and Technical Education and School Counseling certificate areas).

Candidates only need to pay the $75 registration fee during the cycles they are submitting components. All candidates will receive certification decisions on score release day.

The National Board team will make adjustments to NBConnect to support that need. We will add reports for early career teachers.

Yes please check on September 19th, for updated publications.