This handbook discusses performance-based licensure for North Carolina's public school teachers. New teachers are responsible for demonstrating that they have the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve licensure. They must demonstrate essential teaching competence using standards developed by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). The INTASC standards are connected to five core principles that undergird the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards process and have been adopted by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. The model recognizes the varying contexts in which teachers work, providing them with the autonomy to present that which best reflects their knowledge and skill in that context. A key ingredient of the performance-based process is the evaluative role played by the professional review team. The mentor is encouraged to focus on development of the novice teacher, brokering resources for types of activities and experiences needed by the novice. The principal is the final authority on personnel decisions made at the school level. The process used to license a professional must be legally defensible, using a multi-tiered process that offers candidates access to training, multiple opportunities to submit a product for the licensure review, and up to six independent reviews during the induction period. The process to be used in the licensing of individuals must be both valid and reliable. (SM)