A Maryland teacher should treat the agency record as the control sheet for renewal. MSDE's active professional-license renewal page gives two main routes: qualifying National Board Certification earned or maintained during the validity period, or an Individualized Professional Development Plan showing 90 PDPs. For Maryland renewal, the everyday job title at school is not precise enough to choose a licensing pathway.
Use this page as a document audit for Maryland. It focuses on the current agency mechanism, the proof behind each claim, and the order in which you should prepare TEACH Dashboard.
Confirm the exact figure on your Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) record before you rely on it.
Screenshot the MSDE record and its validity dates
Take a dated screenshot or PDF of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) credential record.
The first planning line in your file should read: Professional-license holders renew according to the validity dates shown in the TEACH Dashboard; historical certificates can have transition choices. Then place your actual validity dates beside it. For Maryland renewal, the general cycle and your individual expiration date should agree before you proceed.
The 90-PDP route and its four required content areas
The 90-PDP route is not just a total. It includes a minimum of one hour in each of four named content areas.
For your worksheet, translate the Maryland rule into separate evidence buckets. If Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) offers alternative routes, do not blend them into one invented conversion.
School counselors have an additional mental-health-related professional-learning requirement, and certain Administrator I/II assignments have leadership-topic requirements.
Current credential map:
| Credential or route | Current timing / unit | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Professional license — IPDP route | 90 PDPs | Includes four minimum one-hour content categories |
| Professional license — National Board route | Qualifying NBC/maintenance | Must fall within expiring license validity period |
| Historical professional certificate | Transition option | May use legacy six-credit route if eligible |
This summary is deliberately narrower than a generic PD list. For an active professional license, one current route is an IPDP documenting 90 Professional Development Points (PDPs), unless a qualifying National Board route applies. The point is to show what must be proved for the Maryland credential, then send you back to Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) for any case-specific condition.
The science-of-reading demonstration from July 2025
Beginning July 1, 2025, specified elementary, early childhood, generic special education, and ESOL educators in covered Maryland settings must demonstrate scientific-reading proficiency at renewal.
If any answer is uncertain, use the approved-provider check or ask Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) before relying on the item.
Credit conversion: MSDE accepts several forms of professional learning; do not assume a universal clock-hour-to-college-credit conversion. Historical certificates can use six acceptable credits under the legacy option. This is a place to be literal. If Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) publishes a conversion, use that number.
Uploading to the MSDE TEACH Dashboard
Apply through the MSDE TEACH Dashboard and upload documentation required for renewal or advancement.
The safe Maryland sequence is verify, document, then submit. Open TEACH Dashboard early enough to learn what the transaction asks for, but do not click through with an unreconciled file.
Historical certificate holders can have transition choices; the label and issuance history in TEACH matter before you calculate anything.
One hour in each of four named areas, plus area extras
The 90-PDP route includes at least 1 hour in each of four areas: license-related content/pedagogy, ESL/bilingual education, students with disabilities/differentiation, and culturally responsive/diverse identities. Some license areas have extra requirements.
A Maryland IPDP split into separate evidence buckets
After MSDE approves the transaction, save the TEACH submission receipt, the renewed license record, and the final IPDP version together. Those three files show what was submitted, what the state accepted, and the credential that starts the next Maryland cycle.
MSDE reinstatement for an expired professional license
Expired professional credentials use MSDE's reinstatement route, which can impose current requirements and additional area-specific conditions.
A lapse changes the question from 'How do I finish renewal?' to 'What does Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) require to restore this status?' For Maryland, recent coursework, new fingerprints, a different application, experience evidence, or current standards may become relevant after expiration.
The MSDE credential and the local assignment are separate
The MSDE credential and your local assignment are separate decisions; keep your HR certification office updated on the TEACH submission.
If the Maryland record is pending or deficient, send HR the exact status and the agency submission date. Ask what the district needs for your assignment while Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) reviews the file. For Maryland renewal, do not ask a salary-lane approval to stand in for a licensing decision.
Build the Maryland IPDP as separate evidence buckets
The 90-PDP route is easier to audit when you do not treat 90 as a single undifferentiated number. MSDE requires at least one hour of professional learning in each of four areas: content or pedagogy related to the license, ESL/sheltered English/bilingual education, strategies for students with disabilities or differentiated instruction, and culturally responsive teaching or diverse student identities. Create four labeled rows in the IPDP before you add the rest of your activities. That makes a content-area gap visible while there is still time to fix it.
After you total the PDPs, run a separate content-area checklist. Maryland attaches role-specific conditions to some credentials, so a file can meet the overall PDP total and still be incomplete. Record each extra condition as its own line item with the evidence and completion date rather than burying it inside the general credit count.
Finally, distinguish a modern professional license from a historical certificate. MSDE allows some holders of historical certificates to use a legacy six-credit path when they meet its conditions, but once a professional license is issued the current professional-license renewal rules control future cycles. Put the credential label from TEACH at the top of the worksheet so you do not accidentally combine those two systems.
Maryland's 90-PDP total is only the first layer
MSDE currently requires 90 Professional Development Points (PDPs) for renewal of a professional license. The conversion rules are explicit: one clock hour = one PDP; one semester hour = 15 PDPs; one MSDE-approved CPD credit = 15 PDPs; and one qualifying CEU = 10 PDPs. This makes Maryland one of the states where a mixed evidence file can be reconciled without inventing a homemade conversion.
The 90-PDP total also includes content gates. Current renewal guidance requires at least one PDP in each of four areas: content/pedagogy related to the license; English learner/sheltered/bilingual education; strategies for students with disabilities and differentiated instruction; and culturally responsive teaching/diverse student identities. Put these four minimums in separate rows even if one activity appears to satisfy more than one topic; your file should show exactly how the state requirement is met.
MSDE's PDP page recognizes more than coursework—examples include qualifying conferences, curriculum development, mentoring, publications, approved micro-credentials and certain occupational experience for Professional Technical Education. The Individualized Professional Development Plan includes an activity log that should be uploaded in the continuing-education portion of the renewal application. Use that state log structure as your master record rather than building a parallel system that is hard to reconcile at filing time.
A last Maryland check before the TEACH upload
Before uploading to the MSDE TEACH Dashboard:
- 1. The 90 PDPs include at least one hour in each of the four required content areas.
- 2. If your assignment is covered, the July 2025 science-of-reading demonstration is documented as its own item.
- 3. The MSDE record's validity dates match the credential you are renewing.
Build each of the four PDP areas using the evidence test, and store the evidence in the documentation guide format so an audit can follow it.