• Once an educator earns a National Board Professional Teaching Standards Certification (NBPTS), his or her South Carolina Professional Educator Certificate will be upgraded by the Office of Educator Certification, State Department of Education (SDE), to reflect the NBPTS certification and ten year validity dates. The SDE will be notified by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA) concerning South Carolina educators who have earned this national recognition. The SDE will mail the certificate to newly certified NBPTS educators within two months of the notification of certification.

    The process to renew a NBPTS is explained on the NBPTS Website. The renewal of a NBPTS certificate is processed through the Office of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Additional information on the NBPTS renewal process and state support is located on the CERRA Website.

    If a South Carolina NBPTS educator chooses to renew his or her SC professional educator’s certificate instead of the NBPTS certificate at the end of the active validity date, the educator will follow SC’s Renewal Credit Plan. If the educator is employed in a SC public school district, the NBPTS educator will work through the district’s system to renew the SC professional educator’s certificate. If the NBPTS educator is not employed in a SC public school system, he or she will work through the SDE- Office of Educator Certification to renew his or her SC professional educator’s certificate.

    All renewal work for a NBPTS educator who is renewing the SC professional educator’s certification (instead of the NBPTS certificate) must be completed during the last five years of the ten year validity of the NBPTS certification. Under the Renewal Credit Plan, any educator who does not hold a Masters degree must earn one half of their renewal credit (60 credits) in graduate level coursework.