••• GAETC •••

Professional learning

GaETC does not offer PLUs for certificate renewal with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Here is a more detailed explanation of why the conference does not offer PLUs:

According to GaPSC rule 505-2-.36, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) only accepts PLUs from conference attendance under certain guidelines. Information related to that also appears below. What might be of benefit to you is having a certificate of attendance to take back to your supervisor to support the items in the red font below. While the GaPSC does allow certificate renewal using PLUs or CEUs, it is only under the conditions as stated below. The conference would not meet these conditions. Rather, supervisors now have to certify that educators have actively participated in job-embedded, school-based professional learning communities. GaETC attendees would need to use the knowledge gained during the conference to support job-embedded learning and have this certified by a supervisor.

If you work at a private school,note the GaPSC rule states, “Educators employed at Georgia private schools may renew their certificates by completing the requirements outlined in Sections (e)1-4 above or by completing the requirements outlined in Section (g) below”

Section (e)1-4 states, “Certificate and license holders who are employed by a Georgia LUA in a position requiring certification at the time of renewal application must satisfy professional learning requirements as outlined below, with the exceptions noted in section 5 below. Employing LUAs shall document fulfillment of these requirements and verify their completion as part of the renewal application package:

  1. Engaging in professional learning on a continuing basis by fully participating in the LUA’s professional learning community as documented by the educator’s supervisor and described in GaPSC Guidelines accompanying this rule;
  2. Setting written Professional Learning Goals (PLGs) or developing a written Professional Learning Plan (PLP) and making acceptable progress, as defined by the employing LUA, toward accomplishing these goals or completing the PLP:
  3. Professional learning is to be primarily job-embedded and done in the context of the school learning community. Other forms of professional learning such as workshops shall be for the purpose of supporting job-embedded learning.
  4. With the approval of the educator’s supervisor, college course work may be used as professional learning under the following conditions:

Here is the information related to Section (g):

  • Educators who no longer work in schools, agencies, or other education organizations in Georgia must satisfy one of the following requirements:
    • (i) For educators who have been employed by a Georgia LUA in a position requiring certification for at least one (1) school year during the most recent validity period of their certificate, and within five (5) years of the date of renewal application, submit documentation of completion of the professional learning requirements outlined in Section (e) above during at least one (1) qualifying 505-2-.36 Page 5 year of employment.
    •  (ii) Complete any combination of six (6) semester hours of college course work; ten (10) Georgia Professional Learning Units (PLUs); ten (10) Continuing Education Units (CEUs); or one hundred (100) clock hours of Bright from the Start (BFTS)-approved training:
      • (I) College course work must be earned at an institution that meets the accreditation standards outlined in GaPSC Rule 505-2-.31 GaPSC-ACCEPTED ACCREDITATION; VALIDATION OF NON-ACCREDITED DEGREES. Final course grades must be “B” or higher. Developmental studies courses and course work that is audited and/or exempted without credit shall not be accepted.
      • (II) PLUs must be awarded by a State of Georgia education agency, a Regional Educational Services Agency (RESA), a Georgia LUA or a GaPSC-approved college or university. Only LUAs offering GaPSC-approved programs may offer PLUs for renewal purposes. Agencies, RESAs, and LUAs may contract with vendors provided a process is in place that assures the provider designs and implements professional learning that meets Learning Forward standards. Documentation must be maintained that the agency, RESA, or LUA uses an approval process to assure that all professional learning for certificate renewal is standards-based. Only those PLUs awarded within the timeframe outlined in section (2)(h) below, will be acceptable for certificate renewal.
      • (III) CEUs must be issued by a GaPSC-accepted accredited college or university or a provider authorized by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). Ten (10) contact hours are the equivalent of one (1) CEU. These credits must be reflected on CEU transcripts or “certificates of completion” which include the name of the organization issuing the credits, the name of the educator receiving the credits, the title of the course, the date the course began and date of completion, and the number of CEUs being authorized. (IV) BFTS-approved trainings may be found on the BFTS website at http://decal.ga.gov.