NBC
Cost of National Board Certification
The initial cost for each of the four components is $475, with the total cost for the initial attempt of all four components being $1,900. Retake attempts require an additional fee. For each assessment cycle a teacher plans to take components, a $75 nonrefundable and nontransferable registration fee is required and must be paid before purchasing a component.
Continuing Professional Hours (CPE)
Each component successfully completed will compute to 45 CPE hours.
Expiration and Renewal
For teachers who were certified in 2017 or later, National Board Certification is active for a period of five years. Prior to 2017, certification lasted up to 10 years. Current National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) nearing their certification expiration date can renew their certification for a period of 10 years. The fee for renewal is $1,250. However, starting in 2021, the National Board will no longer extend certificates through the current 10-year renewal process. Instead, it will extend certification through its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process. Successfully meeting MOC requirements will extend an NBCT’s certificate by five years from their current certificate’s expiration date. The MOC will cost $495 plus a $75 registration fee.
Reimbursement through TIA
The Teacher Incentive Allotment will reimburse districts up to $1,900 for initial certification, up to $1,250 for renewal, and up to $495 for MOC. Districts may reimburse teachers who paid out of pocket prior to submitting request through TIA. Fees paid toward certification and renewal are eligible if the certification or renewal was achieved following the passage of House Bill 3 in summer 2019.
Texas Education Agency will reimburse districts that pay NBCT fees for their teachers. TEA will provide up to $1,900 for initial certification, up to $1,250 for renewal, and up to $495 for MOC. A teacher must achieve the certification or renewal before funds are disbursed. Only certifications or renewals after the passage of House Bill 3 in summer 2019 are eligible for reimbursement.
*National Board designation and fee reimbursement policies are pending proposal and adoption of Commissioner rules. Proposed rules will be posted for public comment in spring 2020.
General Timeline from initial registration for NMC to reimbursement, how does it align with a recognized designation and other TIA funding?
Becoming National Board certified can take up to four years from initial registration to certification, but most candidates are certified within 1-3 years. New NBCTs will receive scores in the fall, and those eligible will earn a Recognized designation on their teaching certificate in the spring following initial certification. The Recognized designation will begin the same school year that the teacher earned National Board certification.
For the first year of an NBCTs Recognized designation, districts will be notified of the allotment generated by each teacher in the spring and will receive allotment funds in September of the following school year. TEA will verify that designated teachers completed a creditable year of service and maintained eligibility prior to funding.
Funding Timelines
Allotment funding for eligible NBCTs will be calculated in late summer 2021 and will flow to districts beginning in September 2021. NBCTs working in districts that currently offer strategic compensation for NBCTs may be eligible to earn a Recognized designation for the 2019-2020 school year and generate allotment funding in September 2020. Please email TIA@tea.texas.gov if your district currently offers strategic compensation to NBCTs.
For more information about the National Board and the process for achieving certification, you can visit www.nbpts.org.
Requirements
The certification process is designed to collect standards-based evidence of accomplished practice, and on average takes 1-3 years to complete. To become a Board-certified teacher, eligible candidates must demonstrate advanced knowledge, skills, and practice in their individual certificate area by completing four components: three portfolio entries and a computer-based assessment. The content knowledge component is a computer-based assessment taken at a testing center; the other three are portfolio-based and are submitted through an electronic portfolio system.
Eligibility
To be eligible for certification, teachers must meet the following education, employment, and licensure requirements prior to starting the certification process:
Possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. 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.
Have completed three years of successful teaching in one or more early childhood, elementary, middle, or secondary schools.
Hold a valid state teaching license (or meet the licensure requirements established by your state for a school counselor if applying for the ECYA/School Counseling certificate) for each of the three years of employment you verify.
Provide official American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) certified ratings of Advanced Low or higher from ACTFL speaking and writing proficiency assessments if registering as a World Languages candidate. For more information on this prerequisite for World Languages candidates, refer to the Guide to National Board Certification.
