What you need:
Teachers can renew their professional educator license by completing 120 PD hours and paying the required renewal registration fee. There may be different requirements for educators who hold an administrative or school support personnel license.
Hours must be provided by an in-state regionally accredited college or university, National Board Certification, National License, or activities pre-approved by ISBE for professional development hours.
How to earn your hours:
Illinois educators must take ISBE-approved coursework for license renewal. Approved providers are in-state institutions that are pre-approved by ISBE to provide continuing education. Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is an in-state regionally accredited university that is an approved provider of ISBE professional development hours.
Through a partnership with Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), Model Teaching can help you earn ISBE hours in an affordable format. Choose one or more courses from our NEIU-partnered course page.
You can search for NEIU here: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/RCDTS-Lookup.aspx and learn more about renewal requirements here:
What type of training can you take?
Since Model Teaching provides approved ISBE hours through our NEIU partnership, you can take any NEIU courses for your license renewal. With options of 15, 30, or 45-hour courses, you can easily take high-quality courses at an affordable rate and earn a certificate from NEIU documenting your completed hours. Model Teaching provides coursework in all content areas as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Learn more about Illinois requirements and browse NEIU-partnered courses.
Where to renew
To renew your certificate, you will log into your TIMS account here: [https://www.mypdeapps.pa.gov/wfTIMS.aspx ] and select the “update existing certificates” option. You can also check the status of your certificate at any time in your TIMS account.
For specific guidance on setting up, accessing, or navigating your TIMS account, you can find out more here:
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators/certification/help/tims-help.html
How to renew
Model Teaching helps make the renewal process easy for you. After completing one or more NEIU partnered Model Teaching courses, you will complete a form that asks for some information like your name and address, IEIN (Illinois Educator Identification Number), and course. NEIU will then generate a certificate for you containing the information you will need to enter your hours online. You will receive an email with your completed ISBE Evidence of Completion for Professional Development certificate that you can use to enter your hours.
You must add each course that you complete into the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS). Your certificate provided to you by your ISBE-approved provider will include an RCTD (Region, county, district, type) code that will be required for you to enter for your hours to be recognized by ISBE. You must enter your coursework into the ELIS to ensure that the hours count towards your license renewal.
You can log into your ELIS here to enter your hours:
https://apps.isbe.net/IWASNet/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fiwasnet
Questions
For more information about ISBE renewing your license, go here: https://www.isbe.net/renewal
For more information about ISBE professional development hours requirements, you can visit: https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Professional-Development-for-Educators.aspx
For questions about Model Teaching’s easy-to-use and low-cost professional development for Illinois teachers, contact us via the chat option below or email us at courses@modeltaching.com.
Note: Model Teaching has provided this summary of ISBE’s renewal policies based on information and documentation provided by the ISBE website. This article is a summary we have prepared for educational purposes only to help our current and future Model Teaching students understand their requirements in a summary form, and will be maintained to provide the most current information to the best of our ability. Model Teaching is not affiliated with ISBE but works to provide approved hours through our partnership with NEIU, an approved ISBE provider. We strongly recommend confirming your specific teaching license renewal needs with ISBE.
Article publication date: January 2025
