To earn ISTE Educator’s Certification, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must submit your Completed Alignment Map that showcases artifacts aligned with specific standards and provides clear evidence of integration into your practice.

• Your Alignment Map contains 25 criteria, each worth 1 point, for a total of 25 possible points.

• To pass, you must successfully earn at least 20 out of the 25 criteria points.

This ensures you demonstrate competency across the ISTE Standards for Educators.

The ISTE Standards for Educators Certification is an approximate 80-hour commitment over a 9-month period.

Unlike theoretical courses or vendor-specific training, our programs emphasize hands-on skill development, reflection, and personalized coaching to enhance practical application in real-world settings.

To earn your Educator Certification, you will need to submit the following:

• Completed Alignment Map: This map includes artifacts demonstrating your proficiency in the 24 indicators outlined in the Educator section of the ISTE Standards. Each artifact should align with specific standards and provide clear evidence of integration into your practice.

• Reflection Document: This document addresses ISTE Certification prompts and provides insights into your instructional practices, aligning them with the ISTE Standards. This reflection document will be included in your completed Alignment Map.

Both components showcase your ability to integrate technology to enhance teaching and learning effectively.

Participants will receive expert coaching and resources to ensure the immediate application of learned strategies in their institutions. 

• You will be added to a university-hosted course in D2L.

• You will complete a short survey to gain access to the Educator Certification Portfolio Submission Area.

• Once you have access to the Educator Certification Portfolio Submission Area, you are encouraged to review and use the resources provided to all learners.

  • Portfolio Examples

  • ISTE in 5! Videos

    • Videos that review each criteria for your portfolio submission

  • Monthly Portfolio Office Hours

    • The ISTE Certification Team provides four Portfolio Office Hour sessions per month.

    • All office hour recordings are available in the Portfolio Submission Area.

This ensures you are fully prepared to submit your portfolio.

The ISTE Educator Certification Program is designed for educators working with K-12 students or adult learners. Your portfolio should showcase your professional competency in applying the ISTE Educators Standards in your specific context.

Evaluators will consider your role and learner population when reviewing your evidence, ensuring your submissions align with your professional practice. Whether you work with students or adult learners, focus on demonstrating how you integrate the ISTE Educator Standards effectively in your unique teaching or learning environment.

The ISTE Educator Certification Program is an individual certification, meaning your portfolio must demonstrate your personal competency in the ISTE Standards for Educators.

While some of your evidence may naturally involve collaboration, if you use shared artifacts, you must provide additional contextualization and a clear explanation of your individual role and implementation of the learning activity. This ensures your unique contributions are fully represented.

You can use any format for your artifacts, as long as they are:

1. Submitted digitally.

2. Included within the required Alignment Map.

The best format for submission is a slide deck or PowerPoint saved as a PDF for clarity and consistency. This ensures your artifacts are easy to view and align properly within your portfolio.

You can submit artifacts that you have either:

1. Previously created, or

2. Newly developed and implemented with learners.

However, you must have created or revised all artifacts within the last two years to ensure they reflect your current practice and align with the ISTE Educator Standards.

Yes, all artifacts must demonstrate the use of technology. The criteria are based on the ISTE Standards, which focus on transforming teaching and learning with technology. Even if a criterion doesn’t explicitly mention a digital component, your artifact must show evidence of digital-age teaching, leading, and learning to align with the purpose of the standards.

You retain full rights to all artifacts you submit. ISTE may identify exemplary artifacts to share as models for aspiring ISTE Certified Educators.

If ISTE wishes to use one of your artifacts, they will first request your permission and give proper credit to you as the author.

ISTE evaluates portfolios every month. Here’s what to expect:

1. Portfolios are submitted and collected every month from the 1st to the last day of each month

2. They are then assigned to an evaluation team.

3. The evaluation process takes approximately 4-6 weeks to complete.

You will be notified of your results once the evaluation is finalized.

If your portfolio does not meet the minimum passing score of 80% (20 out of 25 criteria), you have the option to resubmit. Here's what you need to know:

• Decision Deadline: You have until the 20th of the month to decide if you would like to resubmit your portfolio.

• Resubmission Fee: The cost to resubmit is $50. Pay HERE by the 20th of this month.

• Revision Timeline: Once you purchase the resubmission, you will have 3 months to revise and resubmit your portfolio.

• Late Purchase Reactivation Fee: If you do not purchase the resubmission by the 20th, a $150 reactivation fee will apply.

For any questions or assistance, contact istecertification@iste.org.

If you need more than six months to submit your portfolio, here’s what you need to know:

• Portfolio Deadline: You have six months from the start of your Portfolio Submission Area to submit your portfolio. You can find your due date within the Portfolio Submission course in Brightspace.

• Extensions: If you cannot submit your portfolio by the due date, you can extend your submission to the next window for a $25 extension fee.

• Maximum Extensions: You may extend your portfolio submission up to three times.

How to get an Extension: Click HERE to purchase an extension.

Your ISTE Certified Educator certification is valid for three years. During this time, you will be enrolled in the exclusive ISTE Certified Educator Community. This community is designed specifically for ISTE Certified Educators and offers valuable benefits, including:

• Opportunities to deepen your application of the ISTE Standards.

• Connections with other ISTE Certified Educators for collaboration and community building.

• Access to rich resources tied to the ISTE Standards.

• Support for creating standards-based projects to implement in your school or district.

When your certification approaches expiration, you will have the opportunity to renew and maintain your status as an ISTE Certified Educator.

Your portfolio of artifacts is reviewed by a team of ISTE Educator Standards experts who are trained evaluators. Each evaluator is an ISTE Certified Educator who has completed the certification program and an additional six-month evaluation training program to ensure a thorough and consistent review process.

The difference between public and specialty cohorts lies in their focus and audience:

• Public Cohort: Open to all educators, focusing on integrating ISTE Educator Standards into general teaching practices.

• Specialty Cohorts: Tailored for specific audiences:

  • Higher Education (HIED): Focuses on applying ISTE Standards in higher education contexts.

  • Spanish Cohort: Offered entirely in Spanish for Spanish-speaking educators.

  • Librarian Cohort: Combines ISTE Educator Certification with the Future Ready Librarian Framework, leading to dual certification.

  • Google Champions Cohort: Exclusively for Google Champions, focusing on ISTE Standards with Google tools and strategies.

Each cohort supports educators in effectively integrating technology into their unique roles.