1. Renewal of a Professional Level License
Amena Swinton
License Renewal Coordinator
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Agenda Professional Level License Renewal-Mission
Individual Professional Development Plan and Educator Plan Alignment
Definitions, PDPs, and Bundling
PD Providers
Inactive/Invalid licenses
Sheltered English Immersion/New Point Distribution
Professional Level License Renewal Audits

3. Mission
On-going high quality professional development and subject mastery for Massachusetts Educators (Education Reform)
Enhancement on subject matter and pedagogy (professional skill)

4. Who does renewal apply to:
License Renewal (formerly Recertification) is applicable to all educators issued one or more Professional level licenses.
The Professional level license is the only license that carries a 5-calendar year validity period with an expiration date (whether employed/unemployed in the role of the license)
A Professional level license is renewed every 5 years upon meeting the renewal requirements.

5. Individual Professional Development Plan and Educator Plan Alignment
The License Renewal regulations (603 CMR (1)(c) were revised by the Board in June of Educators are allowed to use their Educator Plans to satisfy requirements for license renewal. Educators may identify and record PD opportunities for license renewal within the activities associated with their Educator Plans.
As part of the renewal process, every educator who holds a Professional level license with the intent of renewing the license within 5 years, must create their own Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) to reflect PD for that 5-year renewal period.
If employed in the role of the Professional
License, the Plan needs:
80% of their proposed Plan to align to the educational needs and objectives of the school/district plan,
Supervisor Approval: to be reviewed every two years and receive final endorsement by the Supervisor, prior to renewal.

6. Content, Pedagogy, and Electives
Content: Subject Matter Knowledge of the License area. (See 603 CMR 7:06 at:
Pedagogy: Skills and Knowledge directly related to instruction and instructional
effectiveness.
The Professional Standards for Teachers and Administrators define the pedagogical
and other professional knowledge and skills required of all educators. (See 603 CMR
7.08: The Professional Standards for teachers, and 7.10: Professional Standards for
Administrators) For more information, see 603 CMR 7.06
Electives: Professional Development activities or experiences related to general
educational issues of interest to the educator, other than the content knowledge of the license area or pedagogy.

7. Professional Development Points
Equating PDPs
1 undergraduate credit = 15 PDPs per credit (*22.5 if “significantly new to the educator”)
1 graduate credit = 22.5 PDPs per credit
1 Clock Hour = 1 PDP (a minimum of 10 hours on a topic is required; educators may bundle hours similar in topic to meet the 10 hour PDP requirement)
Instructor of an undergraduate/graduate course or approved equivalent = 45 PDPs per semester hour
1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) = 10 PDPs
Department Sponsored Initiatives = 1.5 PDPs per clock hour
For more information, please see the License Renewal Guidelines for Massachusetts Educators at

8. What is Bundling?
In situations where a minimum of 10 PDPs is mandated to meet license renewal requirements, bundling allows the educator the flexibility of combining/grouping PD workshops/series/conference hours to ensure that the total in that required subject area meets or exceeds 10 or more professional development hours.
NOTE: If the educator is unable to bundle topics (when fewer than 10 hours) with other related topics, the PD activities will not be applicable to license renewal.

9. Professional Development Providers
Pre-Approved Providers
Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (ESE)
Colleges/Universities that award credits/CEUs
Public School Districts
Charter Schools
Educational Collaboratives
Approved Providers Directory:

10. Helpful Resources www.doe.mass.edu/pd

11. Employment Provisions for Professional level Inactive and Invalid Status licenses
Inactive License
A Professional level license that is not renewed within the 5 year validity period is deemed inactive
for a period of 5 calendar years.
If employed by a school district under a Professional level license that has become inactive/invalid,
the educator is no longer considered legally employable under that license in the same school district.
If the educator is not currently employed in a position requiring licensure and holds an
inactive/invalid license, he/she has two years from the start of new employment to complete the
Professional Development requirements for the license.
Invalid License
A Professional level license that is not renewed within the 5 year validity period and not renewed within the 5 year inactive period becomes invalid.
An educator holding an invalid license may not be legally employed in any school district unless the district request a Hardship Waiver. Districts must submit a correctly completed and appropriately signed Request for Hardship Waiver Form. A representative from the district’s central office should contact Amena Swinton, License Renewal Coordinator at to obtain this Form.
  For more information on inactive/invalid licenses, please visit:

12. New Regulations as of July 1, 2016: Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)
Core academic teachers who had one or more English Language Learners (ELLs) in their classroom during the period of SY 2013 though SY 2016, must earn the SEI endorsement (a new initiative addressing proficiency gaps in the academic achievement of ELLs in Massachusetts schools)
Administrators who supervise or evaluate one or more core academic teachers of ELLs during the period from SY 2013-SY 2016, must earn the SEI Endorsement.

13. Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)
Once the educator has been assigned to a cohort year, the individual must earn the SEI endorsement before the end of the their cohort year (each cohort year ends on August 31st), or he/she will be unable to advance, renew, or extend their license until they have obtained the SEI endorsement.
For more information, please visit

14. Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)
As of July 1, 2016, any core academic teacher who is assigned to provide sheltered English instruction to an English learner shall either hold an SEI Teacher Endorsement, or is required to earn such endorsement within one year from the date of the assignment. Any school district that assigns an English learner to a core academic teacher who has a year to obtain an SEI endorsement, shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that such English learner is assigned to core academic teachers with an SEI endorsement in subsequent school years.
As of July 1, 2016, no principal, assistant principal, or supervisor/director shall supervise or evaluate a core academic teacher who provides sheltered English instruction to an English learner unless such principal, assistant principal, or supervisor/director holds an SEI Teacher Endorsement or SEI Administrator Endorsement, or will earn either endorsement within one year of the commencement of such supervision or evaluation.

15. SEI Course/MTEL and PDPs
Two unique policies for License Renewal that are specific to the RETELL initiative:
1) Educators that take the Department’s SEI course can count the PDPs obtained as content based PDPs.
Educators with a Professional level license who pass the SEI MTEL to obtain the SEI Endorsement are eligible for PDPs.
2) Educators who exceed the 150 PDP requirement as a result of taking the Department’s SEI course can “carry over” PDPs from one renewal cycle to the next. Please note that educators choosing to carry over PDPs will need to retain their documentation for both renewal cycles in the event they are audited.

16. PDP Distribution beginning July 1, 2016
The following requirements apply to renewal of a Primary license (even if the license is renewed early-one year from renewal/ expiration date):
A total of 150 PDPs is required to renew a Primary license:
At least 15 PDPs related to SEI or English as a Second Language.
At least 15 PDPs related to training in strategies for effective schooling for students with disabilities and instruction of students with diverse learning styles.
At least 90 PDPs in the content area of the license or in pedagogy, with no less than 60 PDPs in or related to the content area of the educator's primary
The remaining 30 PDPs may be earned through elective activities.
Additional license(s): 30 PDPs each in content (To renew an Additional license that is in an Invalid status requires 150 PDPs).

17. Professional Development Audit
To ensure the integrity of the license renewal process, a sampling of applications are selected periodically from the educator licensure database for auditing.
Applicants may be selected for auditing whether they are employed, unemployed, or retired.
Educators are responsible for maintaining original documentation of their PD activities for the next 5 years from date of renewal.
The passing rate continues to be a success.

18. What happens if the educator does not pass the audit?
Failure to Satisfy Renewal Requirements (603 CMR 44.11)
(1) If the Department determines that the educator has failed to demonstrate that the educator has met the requirements to renew the license, the educator's license will be deemed inactive.
(2) Before the Department deems the license inactive, it shall notify the educator in writing that the Department intends to deem the license inactive and of the educators right to request a hearing before the Commissioner in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A and 801 CMR 1.00: Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and Procedure. This notice shall operate as a notice of the action and does not operate as an order to show cause.
(3) The educator shall have 21 days from receipt of the notice to make a written request for a hearing. If the Commissioner does not receive a written request for a hearing in accordance with the above, the educator's license shall be deemed to be inactive and the educator shall be so notified by return mail.
For more information, visit

19. Q & A Comments
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education