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Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE)

Louisiana CLU Requirements

Louisiana renews a Level 2 or Level 3 certificate on effectiveness ratings, not on a professional development total. The number you have read about belongs to a different certificate.

3 of 5
Years rated successful
No Hours
For Level 2 and 3
1 CLU
Per clock hour
Governing body: Louisiana Department of Education Official LDOE site Portal: LDOE (Louisiana Department of Education)

Louisiana CLU Requirements Overview

Louisiana does not renew teaching certificates on professional development hours. Bulletin 746: level 2 and level 3 certificates are valid for five years and may be renewed for a further five "at the request of a Louisiana employing authority, with renewal of level 2 and level 3 certificates, contingent upon candidates successfully meeting the standards of effectiveness for at least three years during the five-year initial or renewal period."

Three years of successful effectiveness ratings out of five. That is the renewal currency, and your employing authority makes the request. Being evaluated well is not a nice-to-have here; it is the mechanism.

About the number you have probably read. "150 CLUs" is published widely as Louisiana's teaching certificate requirement. In Bulletin 746 the phrase "150 continuing learning units" appears once, in the renewal guidelines for the Educational Diagnostician certificate. It is not the Level 2 or Level 3 teaching rule.

Approved Activities

Effectiveness ratings

Successfully meeting the standards of effectiveness for at least three years during the five-year initial or renewal period, under state law and LAC 28:CXLVII.130. Out-of-state experience is verified as successful by the out-of-state employing authority or state education agency.

Your employing authority requests it

Renewal of a level 2 or level 3 certificate is made at the request of a Louisiana employing authority. This is not a form an individual submits into a portal on their own behalf.

What a CLU actually is

One CLU for each clock hour of active engagement in a district or system-approved high quality professional development activity, aligned with the educator's individual professional growth plan. CLUs quantify district PD; they are not the Level 2 or 3 renewal currency.

CLUs follow you between districts

Bulletin 746 is explicit that earned CLUs transfer across local education agencies, and that each educator is responsible for maintaining the documentation and reporting them as the district prescribes.

Required Topic Areas

Where the CLU total does apply

CLUs are real and they do carry a total for some credentials. The Educational Diagnostician certificate, valid for five years, may be renewed every five years at the LEA's request on either of these:

  • 150 continuing learning units of district-approved and verified professional development over the five-year validity period; or
  • current national certification as an educational diagnostician through the National Certification of Educational Diagnostician Board.
  • If you hold that certificate, the 150 figure is yours. If you hold a Level 2 or Level 3 teaching certificate, it is not.

Level 1 is a different clock

A level 1 certificate is valid for three years initially and may be extended for one year at a time at the request of a Louisiana employing authority, and extensions are limited to two. Advancing to level 2 takes level 1 eligibility, three years of experience in an approved educational setting, and successfully meeting the standards of effectiveness for three years.

Disuse lapses a certificate, and there is a way back

A Louisiana certificate lapses if the holder accrues five or more consecutive calendar years of disuse - defined as five consecutive calendar years not serving as teacher of record for at least one semester, or 90 consecutive days.

  • To reinstate, present evidence of six semester hours of credit in state-approved courses during the five-year period immediately preceding the request.
  • If those hours are not earned, the lapsed certificate may be reactivated at the employing authority's request, at the level attained prior to disuse, for one year, during which the reinstatement requirements must be completed.
  • Bulletin 746 notes that lapse does not apply to certificates renewable via the standards of effectiveness.

Every teacher, from hired to thriving

In EX in Education, the CLUs you track in Louisiana sit beside new-hire onboarding, walkthroughs, coaching cycles, goals, evaluations, staff surveys and recognition. Leaders see how every educator is doing from their first week onward, not only whether they are current, and the renewal record builds out of the growth work already happening.

Start a conversation about Louisiana

Renewal Process

1

Know which certificate you hold

Level 1 runs three years with up to two one-year extensions. Level 2 and level 3 run five years and renew on effectiveness. Educational Diagnostician and several other credentials have their own totals.

2

For level 2 or 3, the record that matters is your evaluations

Successfully meeting the standards of effectiveness for at least three years during the five-year period. Not a professional development total.

3

Keep your CLU documentation anyway

CLUs quantify district-approved professional development aligned to your individual professional growth plan, one per clock hour. You maintain the documentation and report it as your district prescribes, and it transfers if you move LEAs.

4

Watch the disuse clock if you step away

Five consecutive calendar years without being teacher of record for a semester or 90 consecutive days lapses the certificate. Reinstatement is six semester hours, or a one-year reactivation at an employing authority's request.

Louisiana Quick Summary

Level 2 and 3 renewal Effectiveness, 3 of 5 yrs
Requested by Employing authority
Certificate term 5 years
Level 1 term 3 years, 2 extensions
1 clock hour 1 CLU
CLUs transfer Across LEAs
Lapse after 5 years of disuse
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Louisiana CLU FAQs

How many CLUs does Louisiana require to renew a teaching certificate?

For a Level 2 or Level 3 teaching certificate, none. Bulletin 746 makes renewal contingent on successfully meeting the standards of effectiveness for at least three years during the five-year initial or renewal period, at the request of a Louisiana employing authority. The widely published figure of 150 continuing learning units appears once in Bulletin 746, in the renewal guidelines for the Educational Diagnostician certificate.

What are the standards of effectiveness?

The state evaluation standards under state law and LAC 28:CXLVII.130. For renewal, a candidate must successfully meet them for at least three years during the five-year initial or renewal period. Out-of-state experience is verified as successful by the out-of-state employing authority or state education agency.

Can I renew my own certificate?

Renewal of a level 2 or level 3 certificate is made at the request of a Louisiana employing authority, so it runs through your employer rather than being submitted independently. The same is true of level 1 extensions and of reactivating a lapsed certificate.

What is a CLU worth, and do they follow me?

One CLU equals one clock hour of active engagement in a district or system-approved high quality professional development activity aligned with your individual professional growth plan. Each educator maintains the documentation and reports earned CLUs as the district prescribes, and Bulletin 746 states that earned CLUs transfer across local education agencies.

What happens if I stop teaching for a few years?

A certificate lapses after five or more consecutive calendar years of disuse, meaning five consecutive years not serving as teacher of record for at least one semester or 90 consecutive days. Reinstatement requires six semester hours of credit in state-approved courses during the preceding five years, or a one-year reactivation at the employing authority's request during which those requirements are completed.

Does EX in Education help Louisiana districts?

Yes, and here more directly than in most states. Because Level 2 and Level 3 renewal turns on three years of successful effectiveness ratings, the evaluation record IS the certification record. EX in Education holds observations, evaluations and the effectiveness history in the same place as the CLU documentation each educator has to maintain, so a district can see which teachers are on track to renew without assembling it from two systems.

PD Requirements for Other States

Not in Louisiana? Find requirements for your state.

Evaluated in Louisiana? See how Louisiana teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.

Part of EX in Education

One piece of the educator experience.

CLU 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.