All Level 2 teachers are eligible to participate at any point of their teaching career. Level 2 Teachers can begin their enrollment by using this APL II-III Intent to Enroll Registration Link

ELIGIBILITY TO ADVANCE TO LEVEL 3

A Level 2 teacher is eligible to advance to Level 3 via the APL II-III Micro-Credentials when they have:

1. Successfully completed four micro-credentials with a mastery score of 85% or higher
2. Taught three full school years with a Level 2 teaching license and successful annual evaluations for those three years.
3. Earned a master’s degree. 

Please review these documents to estimate your time of completion:

 APL II-III MICRO-CREDENTIAL APPROXIMATE TIME OF COMPLETION BY COHORTS

Enrollment Dates (google.com)

If you do not complete all 4 required micro-credentials by the time your license expires, you will need to renew your Level 2 license.  Once you complete the 4th micro-credential and you meet required advancement criteria, your license will be advanced to a Level 3 teaching license.

To be eligible for certification, teachers must meet the following education, employment, and licensure requirements prior to starting the certification process. Candidates will be asked to verify these during registration.

• Possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. 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.
• Effective September 19, 2022, the National Board opened 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.
• 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.

Your timeline: 

• You have the flexibility to work towards certification in a way that suits you and your professional and personal responsibilities.
• Completing your first attempt of all four components can take as little as one year, or up to three.
• You have up to two retake attempts for each component and have a five-year window to achieve certification.
• Take a look at potential 2 year, or 3-year timelines here

Further Information:

1. National-Board-Process-Overview-1.pdf (nbpts.org)
2. Overview-and-Quick-Start-Guide.pdf (nbpts.org);
3. National-Board-Certification_Candidate-Resource-Guide.pdf (nbpts.org)

If you do not complete NBCT requirements by the time your license expires, you will need to renew your Level 2 license.  Once you complete NBCT requirements and you meet required advancement criteria, your license will be advanced to a Level 3 teaching license.