Pennsylvania Educators,
Did You Know About
Act 48?
General Information
About Act 48 and Continuing
Professional Education Requirements
Who is affected by Act 48?
All educators holding Pennsylvania public school certification including Instructional I and II, Educational Specialist I and II, Administrative, Supervisory, Letters of Eligibility and all vocational certificates, employed or not. The goal of professional education is to improve accountability and quality in professional development. PDE strives to establish expectations that include work-embedded experiences with depth and continuity consistent with the Standards Aligned System. Certain school and system leaders serving under administrative certificates are affected differently, since they must comply with Act 45 of 2007.
What must educators do to
comply with Act 48?
Educators must earn six credits of collegiate study; or six credits of PDE-approved continuing professional education courses; or 180 hours of continuing professional education programs, activities or learning experiences through a PDE approved provider; or any combination of the above every five years to maintain active certification status.
NOTE:
Each semester collegiate credit is equal to 30 continuing education hours. Each quarter collegiate credit is equal to 20 continuing education hours. All credits and hours must be related to an educator’s certificate type or area of assignment (unless enrolled in an administrative program or approved by the school board) or comply with guidelines listed below on page 5 under the heading: Earning Act 48 Hours and the Types of Activities Which Count Toward Act 48 Hours.
Types of Activities
That Count Toward Act 48 Hours
When does the
five-year period begin?
The five-year period begins on the effective date of issuance of the educator’s initial Instructional I certificate. The requirements will be renewed at the end of each five-year period. Each individual’s assigned five-year period is based on the date of issuance of his/her Instructional I certificate, or the date of implementation of Act 48 on July 1, 2000, whichever is later. Five-year period beginning dates can change, depending on whether an extension was granted, or if a five-year period was completed after the deadline, or other factors, in which case a new five-year period is assigned beginning the day after the previous five-year period was completed.
How will educators and
public school entities know when
the five-year period is over?
At least 12 months prior to the end of the five-year period, PDE will notify both the educator and the public school entity regarding the continuing education status and remaining credit hours, if any, which need to be completed. An additional notification of certification status will be sent at the end of the five-year period, therefore it is important that PDE has a current name and address for each educator.
So How Can
CCEI Help You?
We offer annual subscriptions
to keep you on-top of
state regulation!
If you do not already have a ChildCare Education Institute user account,
the first step will be to set up a new account.
Small Center-Based Annual Professional Development Subscription
- Up to 20 users
Large Center-Based Annual Professional Development Subscription
- Up to 50 Users
Individual Subscription Benefits Include:
Unlimited access to CCEI’s professional development library for one year
Over 150 online child care training courses in English and Spanish
Training topics in administration and management, health and safety, nutrition and food service, child development, guidance and discipline, inclusion and special needs, environments and curriculum, and many more
Pre-service, orientation, and in-service training for new and experienced staff
Coursework that may articulate to college credit with one of CCEI’s college partners
Web-based coursework accessible 24/7/365
IACET CEUs awarded for completed coursework
National Accreditation by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC)
Assistance with technical and faculty support
Center-Based Subscription Additional Benefits Include:
Administrative features allow the director to assign and monitor courses and print completion certificates
A turnover provision allowing for the reassignment of an unused subscription to accommodate for staff turnover
Choose From Any Courses
In Our Online Training Catalog
Sample of Course Catalog Below
Student Satisfaction Scores
- 98% of our students rated us as Excellent or Good
- 97% of our students rated CCEI’s online learning
system as excellent or good - 99% Would recommend CCEI to others
- 99% Were satisfied with their studies
