Renew a Maryland license with 90 Professional Development Points and at least one hour in each of four named areas. National Board certification replaces the whole thing.
Maryland gives you two ways to renew, and one of them is a single document. MSDE: submit a National Board Certification earned, initially or through maintenance, within the validity period of your expiring license - or submit an Individualized Professional Development Plan (IPDP) showing 90 Professional Development Points.
The 90 points are not free-form. They must include a minimum of one hour of professional learning in each of four named areas: content or pedagogy related to an area of your license; English as a Second Language, Sheltered English or Bilingual Education; strategies for teaching students with disabilities or differentiated instruction; and Culturally Responsive Teaching or Diverse Student Identities in Education.
Beyond that minimum, MSDE is explicit that "license holders are free to engage in professional development outside of these areas as long as the minimum requirements are met." And a point worth reading twice: advancement is not required in Maryland. An educator may renew the same license indefinitely rather than climbing tiers.
MSDE measures PDPs directly: one clock hour is equivalent to one PDP.
One semester hour of college credit is 15 PDPs. One MSDE-approved Continuing Professional Development credit is also 15 PDPs.
One Continuing Education Unit is 10 PDPs, and MSDE attaches a condition: the CEUs must be from an accredited International Association for Continuing Education and Training provider.
A National Board Certification earned initially or through maintenance within the validity period of the expiring license renews it outright, with no PDP total to assemble.
MSDE lists additional professional learning for particular areas. These are earned as part of the 90 PDPs rather than on top of them, but a general 90 that ignores them does not satisfy the requirement.
MSDE: "Educators may choose to continuously renew a professional license or advance to the next tier of licensure. Advancement is not required in Maryland." The renewable licenses are the Initial Professional License, the Professional License and the Advanced Professional License.
In EX in Education, the PDPs you track in Maryland 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 MarylandNational Board certification earned within the validity period of the expiring license, or an Individualized Professional Development Plan showing 90 Professional Development Points.
At least one hour of professional learning in each: content or pedagogy for your license area; ESL, Sheltered English or Bilingual Education; strategies for students with disabilities or differentiated instruction; and Culturally Responsive Teaching or Diverse Student Identities in Education.
Blind/Visually Impaired, School Counselor and Administrator I/II each carry additional professional learning, earned as part of the 90 rather than in addition to it.
One clock hour is one PDP. One semester hour of college credit or one MSDE-approved CPD credit is 15. One CEU from an accredited IACET provider is 10.
Ninety Professional Development Points, submitted in an Individualized Professional Development Plan. They must include a minimum of one hour of professional learning in each of four named areas. The alternative route is a National Board Certification earned within the validity period of the expiring license.
Content or pedagogy related to an area of your license; English as a Second Language, Sheltered English or Bilingual Education; strategies for teaching students with disabilities or differentiated instruction; and Culturally Responsive Teaching or Diverse Student Identities in Education. A minimum of one hour in each, inside the 90.
One clock hour is one PDP. One semester hour of college credit is 15 PDPs. One MSDE-approved Continuing Professional Development credit is 15 PDPs. One Continuing Education Unit is 10 PDPs, and the CEUs must be from an accredited International Association for Continuing Education and Training provider.
For some areas, yes, earned as part of the 90 PDPs. Blind/Visually Impaired requires a minimum of 15 PDPs in braille maintenance. School Counselor requires coursework, a CPD credit or equivalent CEUs addressing depression, trauma, violence, youth suicide, substance abuse, and identifying and distributing professional resources to parents or guardians. Administrator I and II holders assigned to an administrator or supervisor position have further requirements.
No. MSDE states that educators may choose to continuously renew a professional license or advance to the next tier, and that advancement is not required in Maryland. The Initial Professional License, Professional License and Advanced Professional License may all be renewed.
Yes. Select Maryland and the system tracks toward 90 PDPs, applies the clock hour, semester hour, CPD and CEU conversions, and flags the four required areas separately so a full total that misses one of them does not read as complete. Area-specific extras like braille maintenance or the school counselor topics sit in the same record.
Not in Maryland? Find requirements for your state.
Evaluated in Maryland? See how Maryland teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.
Part of EX in Education
PDP 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.