Professional Development

Writing an IPDP is part of the standards for the teaching profession and licensure requirements for the state of Ohio. Every educator must have a “plan” in place that drives their professional development activities. This plan keeps the activities focused and meaningful to the educator, tying them to district, building, educator, and student needs.

No professional development activities (including those taken through PD Express) can count toward renewal UNLESS you have an approved IPDP in place.

Regionally accredited institution of higher education means a community college, college, or university which is a candidate for accreditation or is accredited by one of the following regional accrediting bodies:

• Middle States, Association of Colleges and Schools (www.msche.org)
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (www.neasc.org)
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (www.nwccu.org)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (www.sacscoc.org)
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges; Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (www.wascweb.org)

How to check for regional accreditation: Ask the college/university to identify whether they are regionally accredited, and if so, by which accrediting body. Then visit the web site for the regional accrediting body (see links above), and look up your college/university in their listing of accredited institutions.

• Visit http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/ for a listing (alphabetical or by state) of regionally accredited colleges/universities, maintained by the University of Texas.
• Contact information for the regional accrediting bodies can be found at http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp
• U.S. Department of Education information on accreditation at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred

If you don’t find your institution listed in any of those lists, you can contact the college directly and get a written statement that they offer a 4 year accredited education program.  Submit that statement to HR and get preapproval for those institutions.

Your IPDP should be submitted for approval at the beginning of your licensure cycle. As soon as you renew your license, write and submit your next IPDP.

Remember…no course work or other professional development activity can be used for renewal UNLESS you have an approved plan in place!

Send your plan to the LPDC Chairperson, Sharon Mays, through interoffice mail to West High School or Central Office or via email at sharon.mays@lakotaonline.com.

Click below for a template that can be used for anyone who is just using PD Express hours to renew.  If outside hours are used, make sure the goals align with the PD desired and add activities.

IPDP Template

If during your licensure cycle you wish to revise or change the goals on your IPDP, you simply need to submit a revised plan.

Remember: your professional development activities MUST align with the goals on your IPDP, so be timely in getting your revised goals approved or you run the risk of not being able to count your professional development for renewal.

It is not unusual to write your IPDP without specific courses or workshops in mind. You can be general in the description of your activities, such as “Workshops in literacy”, “online course in math”, “book study on autism spectrum”, or “National Conference in Technology”. These indicate to the Review Committee that you will be seeking quality professional development that matches your goals.

For the dates, you will simply put the five year span of your license unless you know more specific dates you plan to complete the activities. The documentation is either transcript or CEUs.

Some important points about professional development activities in your plan:

• You do not have to submit a revised plan when you change only your activities; if you do change your activities, you are responsible for making sure the new activities match your goals
• You do not have to complete all the activities in your plan if the ones you have completed meet renewal requirements

The LPDC keeps a copy of all IPDPs for every educator in Lakota. Those are kept in a file maintained by the LPDC Chairperson.  The approved IPDP is also located under 'Documents' in your portfolio on PD Express to access at any time.

The Lakota LPDC has reciprocity with other Ohio public and parochial school districts. An approved plan from another district is accepted in Lakota for that licensure cycle. The educator simply needs to submit a copy of their approved IPDP to the LPDC Chairperson to be placed in our files.

Once that license has been renewed, a Lakota IPDP must be completed and approved for the next licensure cycle.

Before you leave, request an “Approval Verification Form For Educators Leaving an LPDC” from the LPDC Chairperson. This form, along with a copy of your plan can be given to your new district’s LPDC.

Copies of IPDPs are kept for one year after an educator terminates his/her employment with the district.

Think of renewing your license in terms of professional development points. In Ohio, 180 professional development points are required to renew a five year Professional license. A graduate semester hour is worth 30 PD points, a graduate quarter hour is worth 20 PD points, and a CEU is worth 10 PD points. Any combination that adds to 180 is acceptable provided all course work aligns with a goal on your IPDP. For example, one educator may take six graduate semester hours, another may take nine graduate quarter hours, and yet another may have a combination of three semester hours, three quarter hours and three CEUs. All three satisfy the 180 PD point requirement to renew.

The 180 professional development points also is required for educators transitioning an 8 year certificate to a 5 year license.

5 yr. licenses can be renewed starting in November of the school year they expire. Educators are encouraged to submit their renewals as soon as they've achieved the required 180 PD points. Although the Effective Date of your new license will be July 1st, the Issue Date may be much earlier. Any professional development taken after the Issue Date may count towards your next licensure cycle.

A single five year license now costs $200 to renew. LEA unit members get reimbursed for the renewal cost by submitting Appendix J of the LEA Contract to the HR Department. 

If you have multiple licenses you are renewing, each additional license is $20 above the base cost of $200. So, as an example, if you have three (3) licenses it will cost $240 to renew all three. Note: You may be licensed to teach in several areas. Typically, all the teaching areas are included on a single license. An example of someone with three licenses might be an educator who is licensed to teach as well as holding a license in Counseling and another license in Administration.

The state has conditions by which educators can align multiple licenses to the same expiration year at a considerable cost savings. Please consult the LPDC Chair if you'd like advice on how to accomplish this.

A final thought on multiple licenses: The Human Resource department should, at all times, have the Employer copy of all licenses you've earned. Sometimes a person is hired for a particular position and the LPDC Chair later discovers the person also has a license for another area. This creates problems for everyone. Please make sure the HR department has a copy of all licenses you've earned or will earn throughout your career with Lakota.

The type of background check(s) you need (FBI and/or BCI) depends on where you've lived during your licensure cycle. If an individual resides continuously in Ohio throughout the current licensure cycle, the BCI background check does not need to be updated, but an updated FBI check must be obtained once every five years. If an individual lives outside Ohio at any time during the five years after obtaining a BCI check, then both background checks will need to be updated.

It is the responsibility of educators holding ODE licenses, certificates or permits, to obtain required updated background checks within the five year timeframe prescribed by law, even if the expiration of a background check does not always coincide with the expiration of the license. Specific questions on the front page of your renewal application will allow you to determine what you need to renew your license. If you need an FBI and/or a BCI background check, it can be done at the Central Office. Click here to view the hours the HR department is available for either background check.

Your fingerprints are sent electronically to ODE; you will not receive any paperwork or confirmation. There is NO cost to you, the district pays for these background checks.

If you need a background check, you should continue to complete the online application and submit payment for your renewal. ODE will send an email to Sharon Mays for her electronic signature but your renewal will not be processed until all legally required background checks are completed.

Once your license is renewed, HR will print your license and place it in your file. 

Open a Safe Account by going to the ODE Home Page and clicking on "Safe Account Sign-In".  Follow the directions for opening an account and, eventually, you'll be able to access your account information.