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National Board Resource Center

Applying to Become a National Board Professional Development (NBPD) School

Ready to go? The Cohort Administrator for your school or district can complete the steps below to get your school started on a path of National Board certification! The more teachers and counselors certified, the better for your students, school,  and district!

The NBPD School Process

Step 1:

Gather names of interested faculty.

  1. Post the National Board Professional Development School Flyer 2024-2025 for teachers and school counselor in your school and put a copy in mailboxes (either physical or email).
  2. Share the link to our NBPD School page on our website

Step 2:

Make an appointment with NBRC Director, Sheri Bettis, at slbetti1@ilstu.edu, to discuss your school’s individual needs/requests and to schedule an informational webinar for the interested faculty.

Step 3:

Review the Administrator Checklist and Complete the Necessary Steps.

Step 4:

Complete and return the FY25 NBPD School Registration Form and MOU sent by NBRC to slbetti1@ilstu.edu by July 15, 2025. The NBRC will invoice you $7,250.00 for the payment which is due by August 30, 2025.

A special discounted rate of $6,950.00 will be granted to those that paid their invioces by July 31, 2025.

NOTE: If your district has schools categorized as ESSA Tier 3 (Targeted supported) or ESSA Tier 4 (comprehensive support), funds allocated may be used for the purpose of payment for the National Board Professional Development School/District program.

Step 5:

Have educators complete the FY25 Teacher Agreement and return to the Cohort Administrator who will email them once all are complete to NBResourceCenter@ilstu.edu.

Step 6:

Instruct new cohort members to apply for the Illinois National Board First Time Candidate Fee Subsidy 

Step 7:

Contact the NBRC at slbetti1@ilstu.edu to schedule the planning meeting for yourself, cohort candidate liaison, NBCT, and NBRC director in August 2025.