Complete guide to Professional Development Point (PDP) requirements for Massachusetts Professional License renewal.
Massachusetts educators with a Professional License must earn at least 150 Professional Development Points (PDPs) every five years to renew their license. PDPs must be distributed across specific categories.
150
Professional Development Points
over 5-year renewal cycle
Your 150 PDPs must include minimum requirements in these categories:
Subject matter knowledge in your licensure area
Professional skills and teaching knowledge
Sheltered English Immersion or English as a Second Language
Strategies for effective schooling and diverse learning styles
Remaining PDPs may be in elective topics, additional content, or pedagogy
If you hold multiple licenses, you need 30 additional PDPs for each additional license, with at least 15 PDPs in content for that license area. The remaining 15 may be elective, content, or pedagogy.
Every Massachusetts educator must maintain an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) that documents your professional learning goals and activities. Your IPDP should include:
For subsequent renewal cycles, only PDPs earned after your previous expiration date are eligible. Activities older than five years from your application date cannot be counted toward license renewal.
Graduate courses (22.5 PDPs/credit) or undergraduate courses (15 PDPs/credit).
Workshops, conferences, seminars, and in-service training (1 hour = 1 PDP).
Collaborative learning with colleagues focused on improving practice.
Continuing Education Units from approved providers (1 CEU = 10 PDPs).
Virtual professional development aligned with your IPDP goals.
Presenting at conferences or publishing professional articles.
Massachusetts teachers with a Professional License need at least 150 PDPs every 5 years. This must include minimum distributions: 15 in content, 15 in pedagogy, 15 in SEI/ESL, and 15 in strategies for students with disabilities. The remaining 90 PDPs are electives.
An IPDP (Individual Professional Development Plan) is a required document that outlines your professional learning goals and tracks your PDP activities. Yes, every MA educator must have an approved IPDP to renew their Professional License.
In Massachusetts, 1 undergraduate credit equals 15 PDPs, and 1 graduate credit equals 22.5 PDPs. So a 3-credit graduate course would earn you 67.5 PDPs. CEUs convert at 10 PDPs per CEU, and 1 clock hour of professional development equals 1 PDP.
If you hold multiple licenses, you need 30 additional PDPs for each additional license beyond your primary. Of these 30 PDPs, at least 15 must be in content related to that license area. The remaining 15 can be elective, content, or pedagogy.
Yes! When you select Massachusetts as your state, our system automatically configures the 150 PDP requirement with proper category tracking (content, pedagogy, SEI/ESL, disabilities, electives). You'll see progress in each category and get alerts when you need more PDPs in specific areas.
Not in Massachusetts? Find requirements for your state.
Stop manually calculating PDPs by category. Classroom Walkthroughs tracks your progress across all required areas and ensures you meet Massachusetts requirements.