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Professional Educator License (PEL)

• Teaching
• Required PD Hours: 120 hours
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle
• School Support Personnel
• Required PD Hours: 120 hours
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle
• Administrative
• Required PD Hours: 100 hours AND 1 Administrator Academy (AA) per fiscal year that you are employed in a position that requires an administrative endorsement for 50% or more FTE.
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

ELS-Chief School Business Official

• Required PD Hours: 100 hours AND 1 Administrator Academy (AA) per fiscal year that you are employed in a position that requires an administrative endorsement for 50% or more FTE.
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

ELS-Career & Technical Education

• Teaching
• Required PD Hours: 120 hours
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

ELS-Provisional Career & Technical Education

• Teaching
• Required PD Hours: None
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

ELS-Part-Time Career & Technical Education

• Teaching
  
• Required PD Hours: None
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

Substitute License

• Required PD Hours: None
• Registration Fees: $10.00/year = $50.00/5-year cycle

Paraprofessional

• Required PD Hours: None
• Registration Fees: $5.00/ year=$30.00/ 5-year cycle​
  

If you hold a valid National Board Certificate, your overall PD owed is reduced by 60 PD hours. 

Example: You hold a PEL with a teaching endorsement, you only owe 60 PD hours instead of 120 PD hours to renew your PEL.

In order to receive your reduction for National Board Certification, you must add your valid certification information as a PD activity on your Professional Development page in ELIS.

Be sure the begin and end dates of the activity are chosen within your current cycle.  If you choose dates outside of your cycle, you will not receive credit.

Follow the steps below to successfully add your National Board Certification as an activity in your ELIS account: ​

1. Login to ELIS
   
2. On the menu panel, select Professional Development
3. Click “click here to add professional development hours”
4. Enter your certification information
5. Enter 60 professional development hours.
   
6. ​Select finish
   

Add Professional Development (Using PD+)

​Beginning with the 2015 – 2020 renewal cycle, and every cycle thereafter, any licensee that holds a PEL endorsed in a teaching field and is employed in an Illinois public, charter, or state operated school for 50% or more FTE must complete 120 hours of Professional Development (PD) to renew the license regardless of the number or types of degrees held. ​

​Any licensee who holds a PEL endorsed in school support personnel and is employed in an Illinois public, charter, or state operated school for 50% or more FTE can meet Professional Development (PD) requirements by either:

1. Holding​ an active and current professional license issued by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (must be related to endorsement)
   OR
2. Holding national certification:
1. School Counselor: a license issued under the Professional Counselor and Clinical Professional Counselor Licensing and Practice Act
2. School Psychologist: a license issued under the Clinical Psychologist Licensing Act
3. Speech Language Pathologist: license issued under the Illinois Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Practice Act
4. School Nurse: license issued under the Nurse Practice Act
5. School Social Worker: a license issued under the Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act

If the above requirements have been met, the licensee will need to enter the license or national information into ELIS in the amount of 120 PD hours.​​ 

Follow the steps below to successfully add your National Certification as an activity in your ELIS account: 

• Login to ELIS​
• On your ELIS homepage, select "PD Plus" from the top menu panel
• Click on the icon with the lightbulb that says "PD" next to it
• Click "+Enter New PD" on the right side of the screen and then "yes" to start the PD Wizard
• Select, "IDFPR License or National Certification"
• Continue through the wizard until the screen prompts you to save this information on your PD page​ 

Please note: The Professional Development page on ELIS and the PD Plus pages are synced. You will not need to enter this information on ELIS. 

National Licenses for Renewal must be uploaded as an image in ELIS.

Resources

• Part 25 Administrator Rule, Section 25.805​​
  

​Any licensee that holds a Professional Educator License (PEL) endorsed in an administrative field who is working in a position that requires this credential for 50% or more FTE is required to complete 1 Administrator Academy (AA) per fiscal year in additional to 100 hours of Professional Development (PD). If the AA has not been completed by June 30th, an additional AA will be required for that fiscal year.

• Administrator Academy information​

​Please see the Approvals page for information regarding the renewability of an approval and the renewal requirements.

​Illinois State Board of Education no longer provides a list of PD activities and corresponding professional development hours awarded. PD is awarded in clock hours on a 1:1 basis. One hour of learning/attendance will equal one hour of PD educators may use for licensure renewal.​

College coursework must come from a regionally accredited Illinois Community College or an Illinois University/College with an approved educator-degree program. Once semester hour is equal to 15 hours of Professional Development (PD). One quarter hour is equal to 10 hours of Professional Development (PD).

• List of approved providers

* Entities that do not appear on this list are not Illinois state-approved professional development providers. Illinois educators cannot count professional development from unapproved providers toward professional development requirements for license renewal. While Illinois state-approved professional development providers have authorization to collaborate with unapproved third-party professional development providers, they do so at their sole discretion. Educators who wish to complete professional development offered by an unapproved provider should seek approval from an Illinois state-approved professional development provider prior to registering for, paying for, or attending an activity. 

​If you are a teacher working in a charter school and you are being reported in the Employment Information System (EIS)* for 50% or more FTE, you must complete 120 hours of Professional Development (PD) in order to renew your license.

If you are an administrator working in a charter school, you are exempt from Professional Development (PD) and Administrator Academies (AA).

* You can check this information in your ELIS account under the Assignment/ Salary tab.

​College coursework must come from a regionally accredited Illinois community college or an Illinois university/college with an approved educator-degree program. One semester hour is equal to 15 hours of professional development (PD). One quarter hour ​is equal to 10 hours of PD.​ Coursework completed through an out-of-state institution may not be used towards professional development unless approved by an Illinois Approved Professional Development Provider.