Five Core Propositions

First published in 1989 and updated in 2016, What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do articulates the National Board’s Five Core Propositions for teaching. The Five Core Propositions — comparable to medicine’s Hippocratic Oath — set forth the profession’s vision for accomplished teaching.

Together, the propositions form the basis of all National Board Standards and the foundation for National Board Certification.

The full text of the Five Core Propositions are available for download as an ebook in English and Spanish.