The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is a great resource to bookmark for all of your licensure needs. ELAR will provide you with many answers to your questions, including the specific requirements of your license. Information on the DESE is always current and supercedes any of the tips provided on this page. It is the educator's responsibility to contact the DESE to make sure to have the most up-to-date information!
Each license issued has a specific period of validity. Educators are expected to take note of the amount of time for which each license is valid and work toward advancement of each license to its next stage, i.e., from Provisional to Initial or from Initial to Professional. Licenses at the Professional stage must be renewed every five years or else they become inactive/invalid.
Temporary license – valid for one year of employment (cannot be extended; must advance to Provisional or Initial)
Provisional – valid for five years of employment (cannot be extended, must advance to initial). Starting on July 1, 2019, individuals who hold more than one Provisional license will have no more than five total years of prospective employment under the Provisional licenses.
Initial – valid for five years of employment (may be extended once, must be advanced to Professional)
Professional– valid for five calendar years (renewable every five years thereafter)
Provisonal License
Valid for 5 years of employment
For people who have not completed Approved Educator Preparation Program
Requires
A Bachelor's Degree
Passing Score(s) on MTEL
Additional Coursework for Some Licenses
Teachers with a provisional license must either complete an approved educator preparation program within five years or a program like Class Measures which allows the teacher to demonstrate her competencies through observation and portfolio assessment. There are no extensions on a provisional license.
To advance the preliminary license you must also earn the full SEI endorsement!
Educators often mistakenly believe they must complete their Masters in the content area at the end of five years. In actuality, this applies only to the Initial license. Educators with the Preliminary license must be sure that they will meet the requirements for the next license, and even a content area Masters degree will not provide the "educator preparation program" requirement.
Initial License
Valid for 5 years of employment
(May be extended one time for 5 additional years of employment)
Requires
A Bachelor's Degree
Passing score(s) on MTEL
Completion of a Educator Preparation Program
Professional License (from DESE)
Individual professional development plans must include at least 150 PDPs that break down as follows:
At least 15 PDPs in content (subject matter knowledge)
At least 15 PDPs in pedagogy (professional skills and knowledge)
At least 15 PDPs related to Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) or English as a Second Language (ESL)
At least 15 PDPs related to training in strategies for effective schooling for students with disabilities and the instruction of students with diverse learning styles
The remaining required 90 PDPs may be earned through either "elective" activities that address other educational issues and topics that improve student learning, or additional content, and/or pedagogy.
Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) and its impact on Renewal:
The SEI Endorsement requirement is at the center of the Department's RETELL initiative to transform the teaching and learning of ELLs across the Commonwealth.
All incumbent core academic teachers of ELLs, must earn a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Teacher Endorsement, and
All incumbent principals/assistant principals and supervisors/directors who evaluate core academic teachers of ELLs must earn an SEI Administrator Endorsement.