Renew a standard Arkansas teaching license with 36 hours of professional development a year - plus a set of named topics with their own hour counts, their own five-year rotation, and in one case their own audience.
Arkansas counts professional development annually, not per renewal cycle. DESE's own renewal documentation is blunt about it: "Each educator shall obtain thirty-six (36) hours of professional development annually for renewal of an educator's license." Falling behind in a single year is a problem you carry, not something a big final year fixes.
Named topics come with their own hours, and they are not all annual. Appendix B of the licensure rules lists them; the Rules Governing Professional Development set the actual amounts, the exemptions and a rotation. Two hours each for mandated reporting, family and community engagement, mental health and teen suicide awareness, and bullying prevention; thirty minutes for human trafficking prevention; dyslexia awareness with no hour count attached; and two hours of Arkansas history only for educators who teach Arkansas history. Three of them also rotate on a five-year cycle, and two carry a one-time exemption - the next section has the schedule.
Renewal itself is an application, not just an hours tally. You may apply no earlier than January 1 of the year your license expires, and you submit the online application and fee, documentation that background checks were completed within the twelve-month period before the application, and documentation of the Appendix B professional development.
The requirement is annual. DESE's verification of professional development is completed by a school, agency or institution official, so the record has to hold up to somebody else's signature.
Two hours each: mandated reporting and child maltreatment, family and community engagement, mental health and teen suicide awareness and prevention, and bullying prevention. Thirty minutes: human trafficking prevention. Dyslexia awareness is required without an hour count in the rule. Arkansas history is two hours and applies only to educators providing instruction in Arkansas history.
The Right to Read Act (Act 1063 of 2017, as amended by Act 489 of 2021) requires teachers in positions needing an elementary (K-6) or special education (K-12) license to demonstrate proficiency in the knowledge and practices of scientific reading instruction.
Renewal requires documentation that all background checks under the Rules Governing Background Checks were completed within the twelve-month period before the date of the renewal application.
Section 5.04.1 sets what is required within one year of receiving a license. Section 5.05 then puts three of those topics on a repeating schedule, so they come round again whether or not you have already done them once.
Rule 5-2.02.3.1 gives DESE a safety valve most teachers never hear about: "The Division may issue a one-year non-renewable Provisional License to any applicant who has not completed all professional development requirements for renewal."
Rule 5-2.01: "Applications for license renewal may be submitted to the Division no earlier than January 1 of the year of expiration of the license." A renewed license then runs from January 1 of the following year through December 31 of the fifth year from the previous expiration date.
Every standard Arkansas license is renewed with an Educator Career Continuum designation. The default is Career Professional Educator, unless you qualify for Lead Professional Educator or Master Professional Educator. Renewal is the moment that designation is set, so it is worth knowing which one you qualify for before you apply.
Not 36 in the last year of the cycle. The requirement is annual, and a school, agency or institution official signs the documentation.
Child maltreatment and mandated reporting, family and community engagement, mental health and teen suicide awareness and prevention, bullying prevention, dyslexia, human trafficking, and Arkansas history. Check them off deliberately - general hours do not cover them by accident.
Renewal requires documentation that all checks required by the Rules Governing Background Checks were completed within the twelve-month period before the date of your application.
Submit the online application with the non-refundable fee, plus the PD and background-check documentation. If the professional development is not complete, ask about the one-year non-renewable provisional license rather than letting the license lapse.
Thirty-six hours of professional development annually. DESE's documentation of professional development for renewal of a standard teaching license states that each educator shall obtain thirty-six (36) hours of professional development annually for renewal of an educator's license. It is a yearly requirement, not a total spread across the renewal cycle.
Appendix B of the Rules Governing Educator Licensure names them and the Rules Governing Professional Development set the amounts. Within one year of receiving a license: two hours each for mandated reporter training, family and community engagement, mental health awareness and teen suicide awareness and prevention, and bullying prevention; thirty minutes for human trafficking prevention; dyslexia professional awareness, for which the rule sets no hour count; and two hours of Arkansas history for educators providing instruction in Arkansas history. Three of them then rotate every fifth year - mental health and teen suicide from 2023-24, bullying prevention from 2024-25, and mandated reporter training from 2025-26 - while human trafficking prevention is offered annually.
No. Three rotate on a five-year cycle: mental health and teen suicide awareness beginning 2023-24, bullying prevention beginning 2024-25, and mandated reporter training beginning 2025-26. Two carry a one-time exemption: an educator who completed the family and community engagement professional development at least once before 2023-24 is not required to complete it again, and the same applies to Arkansas history except as may be required for the subject matter taught.
Rule 5-2.02.3.1 says the Division MAY issue a one-year non-renewable Provisional License to an applicant who has not completed all professional development requirements for renewal. It is discretionary and it is one year only, so treat it as a recovery route rather than a fallback you can count on.
No earlier than January 1 of the year your license expires. The renewed license then runs from January 1 of the following year through December 31 of the fifth year from the expiration date of the existing license.
A completed online application with the non-refundable fee, and documentation that all background checks required by the Rules Governing Background Checks were completed within the twelve-month period before the date of the application. Every standard license is also renewed with an Educator Career Continuum designation.
Yes. Select Arkansas and the system tracks the 36 hours per year rather than per cycle, flags which of the seven required topics are still outstanding, and keeps the evidence an official has to sign off. That record sits next to the same educator's coaching, evaluations and goals instead of in a separate spreadsheet.
Not in Arkansas? Find requirements for your state.
Evaluated in Arkansas? See how Arkansas teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.
Part of EX in Education
PD Hour tracking is one part of how districts support educators. In EX in Education, it connects to the bigger picture: walkthroughs, coaching, evaluations, goals, PD, recognition, surveys, and retention. Bring your own process, or start from a template, then run it across every school so every educator moves from hired to thriving.