Educators across the country need teacher professional development courses to maintain their licenses and enhance their skills in the classroom. While the terminology and rules around professional development vary, their requirements are universal.
Fresno Pacific University specializes in providing the type of teacher professional development (PD) courses that educators need. Through the many courses offered by the university’s Office of Continuing Education, teachers earn the credit hours necessary to meet their state’s requirements.
The first step is finding out what your state requires for teacher professional development, and when they require it.
Teaching Certificate Requirements
State education departments publish information about the teacher professional development credit hours needed to maintain a teaching license. These vary depending on the state.
For example, teachers in Massachusetts must earn 150 “professional development points” every five years to maintain a primary teaching license. Another 30 are needed for a specialty license. A professional development point is equivalent to one clock hour. The state also has strict guidelines on the type of courses teachers can take. Those offered through Fresno Pacific University meet the guidelines.
Maryland and Missouri also have their own rules when it comes to renewing certification. Teachers from both states are frequent students at Fresno Pacific University, as are teachers from California. The same can be said for New York, which offers the highest salaries in the teaching profession, and Florida, one of the country’s highest employers of teachers.
Terminology Across the County
In addition to having different requirements for renewing a teacher’s license, states may also vary in the terminology used in association with professional development. For example, in some states it’s not “professional development,” but rather “professional learning” (Washington, Rhode Island, New Mexico, South Carolina, Kentucky, Idaho, Georgia and Arizona) or “continuing education” (Pennsylvania, Nevada).
State officials also differ in the way they refer to the hours needed to meet guidelines for renewing a teaching certificate. They include “clock hours,” “semester hours,” “quarter hours” and, simply, “hours.” No matter the case, all these terms refer to the same thing.
PD at Fresno Pacific University
Teachers from around the country can use the PD courses offered by Fresno Pacific University to earn the teacher professional development credits needed to maintain their certification.
The school frequently adds new continuing education courses, offering teachers cutting-edge information on hundreds of topics. Courses are taught by instructors who understand what educators need in a professional development course, including practical information on applying theory to real-world classroom issues.
Teachers who decide to pursue professional development through Fresno Pacific University can do so completely online, which allows them to conveniently fit their education around busy professional and personal lives.
Once you know what you need to maintain your teaching certification, it’s worth looking into what Fresno Pacific University offers. With the number of classes available through its distance-learning platform, Fresno Pacific University has given teachers a better chance to find exactly the courses they need for professional development.