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Virginia Department of Education

Information on this page is provided by the Division of Teacher Education & Licensure.

Division e-mail: licensure@doe.virginia.gov

Division Staff contacts

Career Resources & Professional Development

National Board Certification Incentive Awards

National Board Certification is a voluntary process for teachers that is designed to complement initial state licensure. Individuals interested in seeking a National Board Certification subsidy grant must have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution, have completed three years of full-time teaching or school counseling experience and have held a valid state license without deficiencies (not an interim or emergency license) during the three years of employment, possess a valid five-year Virginia license, and be employed as a public school teacher or school counselor in a Virginia public school.

• 2011 National Board Certification (NBC) Subsidy Grant Application (Word)
• Also see Superintendent's Memo No. 235-11 – Date Extended to Apply for a National Board Certification Subsidy Grant – issued August 26, 2011

Guidelines for distributing incentive awards

Eligibility Criteria

1. Individuals shall be employed as a teacher in Virginia;
   Definition of teacher: a person who has received National Board Certification and who is currently employed in a public school in Virginia (verified on September 30 of the current school year) with at least 50 percent of the regular scheduled school day in direct contact with students.
   A person who has received National Board Certification and is assigned to the role of a building administrator, a supervisor in a central office position, or a person who is teaching less than half of the regular school day shall be excluded.
2. The teacher shall be fully licensed in Virginia; and
3. The teacher's employment shall be verified annually by the superintendent, or designee.

Procedures for distributing incentive awards

1. An initial award not to exceed $5,000 will be awarded to individuals who meet the above definition of a teacher and who were awarded National Board Certification while teaching in Virginia.
2. Continued awards not to exceed $2,500 annually for the life of the certificate will be awarded to individuals who meet the definition of a teacher as described above. The individual must meet the definition each year the award is granted. (An individual would not receive an initial award and a continuing award in the same year.)
3. The available funds would be disbursed to those who met the definition of a teacher by September 30 of the current school year. (For those individuals who received National Board Certification while teaching in another state, no initial award would be granted.) However, these individuals would be eligible for the continuing awards for the life of the certificate provided that the individual continued to meet the established definition of a teacher.
4. Available funds must be released on or before November 30 of the current school year. Awards shall be granted to all Board certified teachers who met the eligibility criteria as of September 30 of each year.
5. The procedure for disbursement of funds if the program is not fully funded shall be based on a 2:1 ratio (The initial award would be twice that of the continuing award).
6. The procedure for disbursement of funds following a year when no funds are appropriated or available shall be as follows:
   • an individual who meets the criteria for an initial award would be granted such an award once funds are available;
   • an individual who meets the criteria for a continuing award would be granted such an award once funds are available (awards for previous years when funds were not available would not be granted).

Additional information about the National Board Certification process is available at the NBPTS website.

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