Eligibility and Timing

As a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), you must successfully meet the MOC requirements in one of the two years prior to the expiration of your certificate to maintain certification in your original certificate area. If you are unsure of your eligibility to pursue MOC, please login to your National Board account or contact customer support at 1-800-22TEACH. Submit your question using the National Board web form.

Current NBCTs with a certificate that expires on or after November 22, 2022*, are eligible to extend your certificate for five years through the MOC process if:

  1. Your initial or renewal National Board certificate is valid
  2. Your state teaching license is current and unencumbered (e.g., not suspended or revoked), and
  3. You are about to enter the year before or year that your current certificate expires. See the MOC Calendar.

Once you successfully complete MOC, your certification is extended five years from the expiration of your current National Board certificate, regardless of whether you successfully completed MOC in the year your certificate expires or the year before it expires.

There are two options for when to apply for MOC:

  • For the first option you may apply no later than the end of February and submit your MOC evidence in May in the year before your current certificate expires. For example, if your certificate expires in 2022, you would apply no later than February 2021 (but as early as September 2020) and submit your MOC evidence in May 2021. Submitting in the year before your certificate expires allows you the opportunity to re-apply and re-submit again in the year your certificate expires if you do not meet MOC requirements in the year before it expires.
  • You may also decide to apply no later than the end of February and submit your evidence in May in the year your current certification expires. For example, if your certificate expires in 2022, you would apply no later than February 2022 (but as early as September 2021) and submit your MOC evidence in May 2022. If you decide to complete MOC in the year your current certification expires and are not successful at meeting the MOC requirements, your certificate will expire. There is no opportunity to re-apply for MOC, but you may begin National Board certification anew immediately.
  • See the MOC Calendar for important dates related to MOC based on when your certificate expires.