**Attention: several changes in certificate renewal requirements have recently been made or proposed. Please carefully read the appropriate sections below to determine the renewal requirements that apply to the certificate or license you hold.**
Certificate renewal requirements are determined by the type of certificate and, in some cases, the year in which the certificate expires. Please expand the sections below to see renewal requirements for each certificate type.
Standard or Performance-Based Professional Renewal Requirements
For Professional certificates expiring between 2011 and 2017:
- Completion of any outstanding Special Georgia Requirements that were outlined when the initial certificate was issued
- Employment by a Georgia LUA unless exempted as described in the Employment Requirement section below
- No renewal credit (coursework) is required to renew these certificates
For Professional certificates expiring in 2018 or later:
- Completion of any outstanding Special Georgia Requirements that were outlined when the initial certificate was issued
- Employment by a Georgia LUA unless exempted as described in the Employment Requirement section below
- A GaPSC rule change regarding renewal of Professional certificates expiring in 2018 or later was recently initiated. You may read the proposed rule here. If the rule is adopted, renewal requirements for these certificates will be outlined in further detail here.
Expired Clear Renewable Certificate Renewal Requirements
If you hold an expired Clear Renewable certificate, you must meet the following renewal requirements outlined below in order to convert to a Standard Professional certificate.
For Clear Renewable certificates that expired in 2010 or earlier:
- Completion of one of the following renewal requirements:
- 6 semester hours of college course work, 10 Georgia Professional Learning Units (PLUs), or 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) within 5 years of the date of renewal:
- College course work must have a grade of “C” or better, and must be documented on an official college transcript.
- Georgia PLUs must be documented on an official PLU transcript signed by a representative of the course provider or the employing Georgia LUA. PLUs must be completed prior to January 1, 2016 in order to be acceptable for renewal of these certificates.
- CEUs must be issued by a GaPSC-approved accredited college or university or a provider authorized by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).
- Professional development completed by college/university faculty within 5 years of the date of renewal. This must be verified by an official letter from the dean of the employing college or university.
- One year of acceptable out-of-state educator experience within 5 years of the date of renewal. This must be documented on the Experience Verification Form (.pdf) (requires Adobe Reader).
- Valid National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification;
- Valid Georgia Master Teacher certification;
- For some service fields, valid state or national licensure as outlined in the specific rule for that field.
- Completion of any outstanding Special Georgia Requirements
- Employment by a Georgia LUA unless exempted as described in the Employment Requirement section below
For Clear Renewable certificates that expired in 2011-2017:
- Completion of any outstanding Special Georgia Requirements that were outlined when the initial certificate was issued
- Employment by a Georgia LUA unless exempted as described in the Employment Requirement section below
- No renewal credit (coursework) is required to renew these certificates
Permit Certificate Renewal Requirements
- Renewal requirements outlined in the GaPSC correspondence issued with the certificate
- Employment by a Georgia LUA
Educational Interpreter License Renewal Requirements
- Renewal requirements outlined in the GaPSC correspondence issued with the certificate
Paraprofessional License Renewal Requirements
For Paraprofessional Licenses expiring between 2011 and 2017:
- Employment by a Georgia LUA;
- No renewal credit (coursework) is required;
- Pass a criminal record check;
- Employing school system applies for certificate.
For Paraprofessional Licenses expiring in 2018 or later:
- Employment by a Georgia LUA;
- Certificate holders who are employed by a Georgia LUA in a position requiring certification must have an individual Professional Learning Plan (PLP) or a Professional Learning Goal (PLG) coordinated with their supervisor and employing LUA. These PLPs or PLGs are developed and maintained locally, and must be aligned with individual educator evaluation results as well as with school and school system professional learning plans. To be acceptable for certificate renewal, the PLP or PLGs must be directly associated with the annual personnel evaluation.
(For additional information, please see Rule 505-2-.36 Renewal effective date: July 1, 2017);
- Pass a criminal background check;
- Employing school system applies for certificate.
Non-Instructional Aide License Renewal Requirements
- Minimum of 20 clock hours of job-related training provided by the employing Georgia
LUA
- Employment by a Georgia LUA
Support Personnel License Renewal Requirements
- Renewal requirements determined by the employing Georgia LUA
- Employment by a Georgia LUA
Adjunct License Renewal Requirements
- Renewal requirements determined by the employing Georgia LUA
- Employment by a Georgia LUA
How to Apply for Certificate Renewal
Applications for renewal may be submitted as early as October 1st of the calendar year prior to the expiration date of the certificate.
If you are employed by a Georgia public school system, your certificate must be renewed electronically by your employing system. Please
contact your system’s Human Resources department for more information.
If you are employed by another type of Georgia LUA, please submit the following documents
to renew your certificate:
If you are not employed as an educator at the time of renewal, please submit the following documents to renew your certificate:
Employment Requirement
As of July 1, 2015, employment by a Georgia LUA is required for renewal of any professional Georgia certificate. Those who are not employed at the time of renewal may receive a Certificate of Eligibility that may be converted to a professional certificate upon employment.
However, the employment requirement
does not apply to renewal of professional certificates held by educators who have worked for at least one year on a renewable professional Georgia certificate at any time in their career.
Unsatisfactory Performance Evaluations
An educator who has received any combination of 2 Unsatisfactory, Ineffective, or Needs Development annual performance evaluations in the previous 5-year certificate validity period may not receive a renewable certificate until the performance deficiencies have been satisfactorily remediated. Please see the
Performance Evaluations page for more information.
PLUs
Georgia Professional Learning Units (PLUs) have been used for many years by Georgia educators to fulfill certificate renewal requirements. However, following the work of a Georgia House Study Committee on Professional Learning and a representative task force of Georgia educators, the GaPSC has initiated a rule change that will move our state away from using PLUs as a means of tracking professional learning. PLUs simply track seat time in workshops; with the Race to the Top work Georgia has done over the past five years, Georgia has moved beyond tracking seat time to a process that treats educators as professionals. Pending final approval of the revised rule, educators working in schools and school districts will engage in job-embedded learning with their colleagues supported by workshops when needed. Principals and superintendents will sign assurance forms attesting their educators have been engaged in continuous learning. Professional learning will be about working on the work rather than collecting PLUs. This new process is a step toward professionalizing the work of educators. The proposed rule changes can be found
here.
If the rule changes are adopted as proposed,
2015 will be the last year that Georgia educators may earn PLUs that will count toward certificate renewal unless such courses are included in the Professional Learning Plan (PLP) or Professional Learning Goals (PLGs) that an employed educator develops with his/her employer.
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) maintained a list of approved PLU providers until the end of 2014. If you are looking for an approved PLU provider in 2015, please contact a local Georgia public school system or a Regional Educational Services Agency (
RESA ). Beginning January 1, 2016, PLU courses should only be taken for certificate renewal if they are included in an employed educator’s Professional Learning Plan/Goals. Educators not employed by a Georgia school or educational agency should not take PLU courses for certificate renewal after 2015.