What the assessment is
Two separate tests, scored separately, both required.
The certificate
The School Building Leader (SBL) certificate is New York's building-level administrator credential — principal, assistant principal, dean, and comparable roles. To earn the Initial SBL certificate you complete an approved preparation program, meet the experience requirement, and pass the NYSTCE School Building Leader assessment: Part One (Field 109) and Part Two (Field 110).
The two parts can be registered together or separately, and they are scored independently. Passing one does not carry over if you fail the other — you retake only the part you failed.
What it measures
Five competencies, aligned to New York’s educational leadership standards — published today by NYSED as the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (NYS Version), adopted 2017. (Older SBL material calls these the “2015 NY Educational Leadership Policy Standards”; NYSED no longer publishes anything under that title. See Sources.)
- 109 · 0001 Instructional Leadership for Student Success
- 109 · 0002 School Culture and Learning Environment to Promote Excellence, Equity and Social Justice
- 110 · 0001 Developing Human Capital to Improve Instruction and Student Learning
- 110 · 0002 Family and Community Engagement
- 110 · 0003 Operational Systems, Data Systems and Legal Guidelines
How each part is built
From the official assessment framework. This table is the reason the rest of this site is organized the way it is.
| Part | Competency | Selected-response | Performance tasks | Share of score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One Field 109 41 SR = 40% |
0001 Instructional Leadership | 25 items | 1 extended task, 60 min | 30% written |
| 0002 School Culture & Learning Environment | 16 items | 2 shorter tasks, 30 min each | 30% written | |
| Two Field 110 26 SR = 25% |
0001 Developing Human Capital | 0 items | Video observation & analysis, 70 min Four-task set, 70 min | 30% + 25% written |
| 0002 Family & Community Engagement | 10 items | 1 shorter task, 40 min | 20% written | |
| 0003 Operational, Data & Legal | 16 items | — | — |
Source: NYSTCE 109/110 assessment framework (PDF).
Registration, cost and the test day
Verified in August 2026. Fees and windows change — confirm on the official test page before you pay.
| Item | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Where you register | Create an account and register through nystce.nesinc.com. A registration stays valid for one year from its issue date — you can register now and schedule later. |
| When you can sit it | Testing windows only, not year-round. Published windows at the time of writing: Aug 1–17, 2026 · Nov 5–21, 2026 · Jan 30–Feb 15, 2027 · Apr 10–26, 2027 · Jun 5–21, 2027. Each window closes about three to four weeks before its score report date. Check the current list — these are republished each year. |
| Fee | Part One $198 · Part Two $197 · Both Parts $395. Note that the combined rate is exactly the sum — registering for both together saves money nowhere, but it does get you a single same-day appointment. There is no rescheduling fee. |
| The appointment | 4 hours of testing, 4 hours 15 minutes total per part (the extra 15 covers the tutorial and the nondisclosure agreement). Register for both parts together and you get one 8 hour 45 minute appointment with a 45-minute lunch break. Register separately and you may not be able to get the two onto the same day at all. |
| Where you sit it | Computer-based, at a Pearson Professional Center. Arrive 15 minutes early; arriving more than 15 minutes late can cost you the seat and the fee. Bring current government-issued photo ID with your signature. |
| Changing your mind | Reschedule or cancel at least 24 hours before your appointment. Cancelling releases your seat but keeps your registration alive. Simply not showing up forfeits the fee entirely. |
Sources: NY109 test page · Changing your registration · Withdrawal and refund policy · The day of the test.
Scoring, score reports and retakes
How it is scored
- Scaled score range 400–600; 520 passes. Each part is scored and reported separately.
- Performance tasks are scored on 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 — thorough, general, limited, little or no command — plus U (unscorable) and B (blank).
- Every task is judged on three characteristics: completeness, accuracy, and depth of support and understanding. Two raters must agree within one point.
- A response can be marked U for being off-topic, illegible, not in English, or not your own original work — a real risk if you drift from the prompt under time pressure.
Getting your results
- Score reports post at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on the published score report date — typically about three to four weeks after the window closes.
- Your report stays in your account for two years.
- Scores are sent automatically to NYSED and attached to your certification file. Your own copy is for your records — don't submit it with your application.
- If you named institutions at registration, they receive your scores too.
Sources: Scores and score reports · Retake policy · Sample performance tasks and scoring, Field 109.
The certificate landscape, and the deadlines in it
New York is mid-transition on administrative certification. None of this changes the exam — but it changes how long the SBL route stays open.
The Administrator certificate
Applications opened in TEACH on January 29, 2025. Existing SBL, SAS and SDA holders are not required to convert — those certificates continue to be recognized.
SBL programs are sunsetting
No new SBL/SDL preparation programs have been registered on or after Feb 1, 2025, and existing ones are discontinued on or after Sept 1, 2030. You must apply and meet all requirements for the Initial SBL certificate on or before January 1, 2031.
Two five-year reissuances
Since Aug 2, 2023, an Initial SBL certificate can be reissued up to twice, five years each. Older guidance describing a one-time three-year extension followed by retaking the tests is out of date.
Sources: NYSED Administrator certificate · NYSED certificate reissuance. Certification requirements are individual — confirm yours in TEACH rather than relying on any summary, including this one.
What is on this site — and how much to trust it
Read this before you memorize anything here.
Official material, reproduced
- The competency and performance-indicator language is quoted from the NYSED assessment framework.
- Items marked official in Practice are NYSED/Pearson published sample items, with NYSED's own rationales.
- The six scoring rubrics and the official model responses in the Task Playbook come from published NYSTCE preparation materials.
- Legal, financial and certification facts on Law & Ops carry inline citations to statute, regulation or an official page.
Practitioner-written — useful, not authoritative
- The 25 answer patterns are an inferred model of how the exam rewards answers. They are argued from official items, but NYSED has never published anything like them.
- Items marked practice carry rationales written by practitioners, not by the test maker. Treat a disagreement between a practice rationale and an official one as settled in favor of the official one.
- The pacing plans in Day-Of are one reasonable strategy among several.
- Nothing here is a leaked or reconstructed live form. Anyone selling you that is selling you a problem.
Three ways to use this
On screen
Nine pages, no accounts, no tracking, nothing saved anywhere. Practice and Quiz Mode keep score in memory only and reset on reload — deliberately, so you can redo a set honestly. Every page works offline once loaded.
On paper
A 109-page study packet and a separate 43-page answer key, numbered so they line up. Print the packet, work the items with a pen, score from the grid, and log accuracy on the tracker at the back.
Out loud
235 cards in nine decks. Run them solo as flashcards, or hand a laptop to a study partner and answer out loud — which is closer to how you will have to produce this material under time pressure.
It's free. Please improve it.
Use this however helps — study from it, print it, share it with your cohort, put it on a program's resource page, fork it and change it. There is no cost, no sign-up and no catch.
It is independent: not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by NYSED, the NYSTCE program, Pearson or Evaluation Systems. Official sample items and rubrics are reproduced here for study and remain the property of their publishers; everything else is practitioner work.
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