National Board Assessment Data

The current certification rate for National Board Certification is 71%.

This rate is made up of over 24,300 educators who have achieved National Board Certification since 2017, out of over 34,200 candidates who have completed the assessment during that same time period*. The primary purpose of the National Board Certification assessment is to make certification decisions about whether a teacher demonstrates the knowledge and teaching practice expected of accomplished teachers, as described in the Five Core Propositions and National Board Standards for the teacher’s certificate area. Teachers who demonstrate the knowledge and teaching practice expected of accomplished teachers are certified as National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs).

This rate is a cumulative certification rate across years and certificate areas. Both candidates who certified on their initial decision and those who certified on a retake decision are included in the rate calculation. Candidates who did not certify may still have a retake attempt(s) available. Certification decisions for candidates are criterion-referenced; that is, they are based on comparing a candidate’s performance to the established performance standard for accomplished teaching. Certification decisions are not norm-referenced; that is, they are not based on comparing a candidate’s performance to the distribution of other candidates’ performance. The National Board Certification Scoring Guide has more information.

The primary purpose of the National Board Certification assessment is to make certification decisions about whether a teacher demonstrates the knowledge and teaching practice expected of accomplished teachers, as described in the Five Core Propositions and National Board Standards for the teacher’s certificate area. Teachers who demonstrate the knowledge and teaching practice expected of accomplished teachers are certified as National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs).

Ninety-nine percent (99%) of more than 19,900 NBCTs who submitted complete Maintenance of Certification (MOC) materials since 2020 were successful in extending their certification for five years.*

The National Board’s MOC process was designed by teachers to ensure that NBCTs continue to grow professionally while maintaining a strong impact on student learning. MOC replaced the previous Renewal process as the pathway for NBCTs to keep their certification active. The cumulative achievement rate for Renewal was 96%, reflecting 14,400 of 15,000 NBCTs from 2017 to 2021 who successfully kept their certification active through that process.

*The certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) rates are intended as an indication of success among those candidates who submit complete materials for evaluation. Candidates who did not achieve or maintain certification because they earned a Not Scorable are, therefore, excluded from the rate calculations. A candidate receives a Not Scorable if no responses or materials were submitted to be scored or the materials that were submitted did not meet the requirements for scoring. The number of candidates excluded from the calculation of the certification and MOC rates is 3,244 and 1,281, respectively.

About the Certification and Maintenance of Certification Assessments

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification assessments are the only nationally recognized system for certifying accomplished teaching in the United States. The National Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification processes were designed by teachers, for teachers. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established in 1987, the first class of National Board Certified Teachers were certified in 1995, and the third version of the assessment program first certified new National Board Certified Teachers in 2017.