Professional Development and Certificate Renewal
Does your certificate need to be renewed
by June 30th?
Dont' panic! Click on one of the boxes below.
Initial to Standard Certificate Renewal Timeline and Checklist
When should I submit my Statement of Assurance for approval?
Between September 1 and March 1 of the final school year for which your Certificate is valid, you must submit our Statement of Assurance (SOA) on ECS to your Regional Office of Education.
You should submit your SOA by March 1 so that there is time to resolve appeals, if an appeal is necessary. Legally you can submit your SOA after March 1 and count any activities completed by June 30, the end of the fiscal year of registration.
When you renew the certificate due for renewal, any more recently issued certificates will be renewed at the same time to establish the same five-year period of validity for all the Standard Certificates you hold.
Be sure that your ECS profile lists the district and region where you taught for the last year of your certificate's validity. (If you did not teach the last year of your certificate's validity, choose "N/A" or "Other " for the district and school.) This ensures that your SOA goes to the correct Regional Superintendent for recommendation. On ECS, the date and time you submitted the SOA will be noted automatically.
Summary of Certificate renewal requirements:
- Educator enters professional development activities in ECS - activities completed during the renewal period can be entered at any time prior to submission.
- Educator submits Statement of Assurance in ECS. Statements are reviewed and approved or returned to the educator to edit and resubmit for approval. Status of approval or return is monitored by the educator in the Current Credentials window of ECS.
- Educator registers and pays fees upon approval of the Statement of Assurance
- Initial certificate holders moving to standard certification must also submit statements of four years of experience to the Regional Office of Education.
- Initial certificate holders must apply for standard certification and submit the fees for application AND registration of the standard certificate.
Check registration status in personal Educator Certification System (ECS) Account
- Log into account
- Click on My Credentials
- Click on Current Credentials
Initial certificate Renewal - Less than four years of experience
- Register certificate before June 30th of renewal year
- ECS User Manual for Initial Certificates see page 32
- Step by Step ECS for Initial to Standard Certification
- Register certificate
Moving from initial to standard level certification
- Enter professional development
- Submit statements on school district letterhead verifying four years of full-time teaching experience to Regional Office of Education
- Submit Statement of assurance
- Monitor approval status in ECS
- Apply for teaching certificate in ECS
- Register Certificate
- ECS User Manual for Initial to Standard Certificate
- Step by Step ECS Initial to Standard Certification
- Registration Form
Renewing a standard or master level teaching certification
- Enter professional development
- Submit Statement of assurance
- Monitor approval status in ECS
- Register Certificate
- ECS User Manual for Standard or Master Certificate Renewal
- Step by Step ECS Standard & Master Certificate Renewal
- Registration Form
Renewing an administrative certificate
- Enter professional development
- Submit Statement of assurance in ECS
- Monitor approval status in ECS
- Register Certificate
- ECS User Manual for Administrative Certificate Renewal
- Step by Step ECS Administrative Certificate Renewal
- Registration form
Renewing a school service personnel certificate
- Enter professional development
- Submit Statement of assurance in ECS
- Monitor approval status in ECS
- Register Certificate
Renewing a Provisional Vocational Certificate
- Register certificate before June 30th of renewal year
Effective July 1, 2009, individuals who are employed in positions requiring Provisional Vocational certificates in Illinois public schools are required to complete professional development in order to continue registering their certificates. (If you are not employed in an Illinois public school or employed as a substitute, you only pay the registration fee to renew your certificate.) For more information please visit the 23 Illinois Administrative Code, part 25.70 rules, for the renewal requirements: http://www.isbe.net/rules/archive/pdfs/25ark.pdf
The requirements are “phased in,” meaning that not all certificate holders must fulfill renewal requirement at the same time. If you are employed in an Illinois public school on a Provisional Vocational certificate that was issued on or after July 1, 2009, you must complete renewal requirements by the end of the five-year valid period in order to reregister at the end of that five-year validity cycle. If your certificate was issued prior to June 30, 2009, when you next register after July 1, 2009, the certificate will be valid for five years and be renewable contingent on your fulfilling renewal requirements. For example, a person whose registration expires June 30, 2011, will start the five-year validity cycle for renewal July 1, 2011. At the end of the five-year period that ends June 30, 2016, the renewal requirements must be met or the certificate cannot be reregistered.
