State Requirements
To keep your Massachusetts Professional level teacher or specialist license current, you must complete relevant professional development programs and activities designed to support and increase student learning. You are required to renew/recertify every five years once you have achieved Professional licensure (formerly called standard certification). If you have let your license lapse, or become inactive or invalid, you can apply to activate it in the same way you would apply for license renewal.
State Guidelines and Regulations
The renewal/recertification guidelines, regulations, application, and FAQs are detailed on the the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) Recertification website. Please review these carefully; the Recertification Guidelines and FAQs are especially helpful.
In general, you must earn 150 Professional Development Points (PDPs) in the primary Professional license area every 5 years, with a minimum of 90 points in content and 10 points in one topic. Each additional license area must have 30 points in content. The content for your license is defined in the state regulations 603 CMR 7.06, Subject Matter Knowledge of License.
Overview of the Process
- Apply for renewal or reactivation online and pay through your ELAR account at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). The process is handled online and although you must maintain a copy of your activities, you need not submit a hard copy of documentation unless requested through an audit.
- Different activities earn varied amounts of PDPs. A 3-credit graduate course in the subject matter knowledge of the license is equivalent to 67.5 PDPs. Refer to the specific Subject Matter Knowledge of your licenses described in the State Regulations.
NOTE: A licensure program (M.Ed or Licensure-Only) for Reading Specialist may be used to obtain an additional license and recertify/reactivate an Initial license in Early Childhood, Elementary, English Language Learners, Teacher of Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, and Teacher of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.
A licensure program (M.Ed or Licensure-Only) for Teachers of Students with Moderate Disabilities may be used to obtain an additional license and recertify/reactivate an Initial license in Early Childhood and Elementary.
- The various ways to earn PDPs are outlined in the MA ESE Recertification Guidelines.
- You are required to maintain an Individual Professional Development Plan [pdf], with reasonable documentation that validates the completion of an activity and the number of points accrued, and a record of complete recertification activities. The record of complete recertification activities [pdf] must include the topic and type of professional activities completed, the dates of the activities, and the number of points completed.
- If you are employed by a Massachusetts public school, your supervisor must endorse your Professional Development plan; if you are not employed by a Massachusetts public school district you may submit plans directly to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, without a supervisor's approval. The documentation does not have to be sent to the Department, but you must keep the records for five years from the date of recertification, and it is subject to an audit review by the DESE.
Earning PDPs at Lesley
Lesley University is a state-approved professional development provider, offering courses, seminars, institutes, workshops and other activities that fulfill Massachusetts recertification requirements. Professional development activities are available in a wide range of formats, on weekends, weekdays and evenings, on campus and at school sites. Please go to the School of Education Professional Development and Resources webpage and click on Teachers and Practitioners to learn about upcoming programs, institutes, workshops, and courses.
Graduate courses are an excellent way to accumulate PDPs (67.5 PDPs for 3-credit courses), and we have developed a list of sample graduate courses that update and deepen teacher knowledge in the field. The complete University course descriptions and schedules can be accessed by going to www.lesley.edu/courses and clicking on Lesley Online Information Service (LOIS).
Although the Lesley Certification and Educator License Office has attempted to ensure that the information contained on the website is accurate and complete at the time of posting, the contents are subject to change at any time.