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Certification Renewal and Maryland Reading Requirement

Prior to completing the Professional Development Plan

Educators who hold a Standard Professional I Certificate or Advanced Professional Certificate are required to complete a Professional Development Plan.

Your current certificate information can be found on Workday using the following instructions:

From the main Workday page > select Personal Information> In the right hand column (View) select About Me> Select Career tab > Certifications should appear on the screen (you can toggle to Education).

  • Please review the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) renewal requirements prior to completing this form .
  • If you are eligible for the Senior Teacher Waiver, please complete the following sections only: Employee Information, Certification Information, check the first box of Renewal Plan and the signature section at the bottom.
  • Acceptable credit is defined as approved credit taken at a regionally accredited IHE or through MSDE/HCPSS CPD. Course work must relate to teaching or work assignment, or to another subject area of certification. Courses must carry a grade of “C” or above or “pass” and must be earned within five (5) years immediately preceding the date on which the certificate is issued
  • It is the responsibility of the educator to verify that all required documentation is on file prior to the expiration date of your certificate.

Please return your completed form to your assigned specialist:

Elementary Education, Early Childhood, Special Education Birth-Grade 3 And Grades 1-8

Teachers certified in Elementary Education, Early Childhood, Special Education Birth-Grade 3 and Grades 1-8 are required to have 12 semester hours of credit in reading. If more than 6 semester hours of credit in reading are needed to meet the Maryland Reading requirement, the educator must submit 6 semester hours in reading within the first validity period and the remaining semester hours during the second validity period. Educators needing 6 semester hours or less will have one renewal period to submit the requirement.

12 semester hours of reading in the following content are required:

  • Materials for Teaching Reading.
  • Assessment for Reading.
  • Methods or Instruction of Reading.
  • Processes and Acquisition for Reading.

Or to satisfy the Maryland Reading requirement take PRAXIS II test number 5203 – Reading Across the Curriculum. (The test satisfies the Maryland Reading requirement but does not replace the 6 semester hours of credit needed for renewal.)

Secondary Content Area

Teachers certified in a secondary content area (example: Biology Grades 7-12 including Generic Special Education Grades 6-Adult) and teachers certified Prek-12 (art, ESOL, health, music, physical education, special education, and educational media/library media specialist), are required to have 6 semester hours of credit in reading:

  • Methods or Strategies of Teaching Reading in the Secondary Content Area, Part I
  • Methods or Strategies of Teaching Reading in the Secondary Content Area, Part II

Children Literature and Adolescent Literature is accepted for educational media and library media science certification.

Educators certified in the areas of Guidance, School Psychologist, Speech Pathologist, and School Social Worker are not required to complete the Maryland Reading requirement.

Note: Currently there is not a PRAXIS test available to satisfy the Maryland Reading requirement for secondary or Prek-12 educators.