Professional Development
Guidelines
The Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative, along with all other Education Cooperatives in the state, uses ESCWorks (pronounced E-S-C Works) as their Professional Development registration page.
Once you have set up an account on ESCWorks you will always have that account. When you have changes such as a new email address or moving to another district, your account on ESCWorks will need to be updated to reflect your new information.
The ESCWorks system generates an email to you when you receive credit for a training. There will be times when you do not receive this email (may possibly go to Spam). Your credits will always stay with your account and certificates can be accessed at any time by logging in and clicking on “registration/certificate” on the left side-bar.
The Office of Professional Development collaborates with many stakeholders to provide quality professional learning opportunities to Arkansas’s educators, administrators, and school board members.
Act 44 of 2015 amended the definition of basic contract to mean a teacher employment contract for one hundred ninety (190) days that includes no less than six (6) days of professional development.
Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, educators are required to obtain a minimum of thirty six (36) hours of professional development for licensure renewal and contractual agreement.
Required Professional Development for License Renewal is based on the Rules Governing Professional Development and Standards for Professional Learning (LearningForward.org) as approved by the State Board of Education (SBE).
Arkansas School Board Members are required to obtain a minimum of 6 hours of professional development each year. This required training is based upon the Rules Governing Arkansas School Board Member Training.
All professional development providers and programs must be approved by the Arkansas Department of Education at least thirty (30) days before a program is offered as professional development credit. Professional Development shall adhere to the Rules and standards established by the State Board of Education.
Scheduled Professional Development (Act 969 of 2013)
- Arkansas History* - two hours in 2020-21 and every fourth year thereafter for those who provide* instruction in Arkansas History,
- Child Maltreatment Mandated Reporter - two hours in 2021-2022 and every fourth year thereafter,
- Parent Involvement - two hours in 2022-2023 and every fourth year thereafter,
- Teen Suicide Awareness and Prevention - two hours in 2023-2024 and every fourth year thereafter
Rules Governing Professional Development:
http://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/public/userfiles/rules/Current/2016/Professional_Development_February_2016.pdf
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