Teacher License Renewal: License Renewal Procedure

Central to the Board's administrative rules for license renewal is the Board's goal of elevating the teaching profession and reinforcing the hallmarks of any profession. These include being self-governing; setting the standards for entry into and for remaining in the profession; and being accountable to the public.

Because Hawaii's licensed teachers have never had to renew their licenses before, the Board wanted to be absolutely certain the first license renewal went smoothly so that teachers would not risk losing their license and, thereby, be ineligible for rehire. For this reason, the Board opted to pilot its procedure as well as the forms, etc., to be used throughout the procedure.

More information on the License Renewal Pilot program

Prepare for relicensing: Which documents to save

The diagram below shows the key elements of license renewal.

Year 1

As shown in this diagram (click for the diagram), upon becoming licensed, a teacher would prepare and submit a Professional Growth Plan that contains two HTSB Performance Standards, which serve as the two goals in the Plan. Standard V Demonstrates Knowledge of Content is a mandatory goal to be used in all Plans.

In the Plan the teacher identifies some proposed activities/experiences in which (s)he will participate to meet her/his goals. A list of these possible activities/experiences can be found in the table of Professional Growth Experiences. In the table each activity/experience has been allocated possible points. Over the 5-year validity period of their license, teachers must compile a total of 60 points.

It is clear that this table contains a wide variety of possible professional growth activities/experiences. This is because, unlike in other states where license renewal is solely dependent on the collection of college or workshop credits, the Board felt that creating a system that relied solely on such credits would be unfair to teachers on the neighbor islands who do not have equal access to such opportunities. The Board strongly believes, that all the activities listed, however, have the potential to offer professional growth to teachers.

Years 2-4

Upon submittal of the Professional Growth Plan, teachers would seek out and participate in the activities/experiences they identify in their plan. During this time they will also keep notes and documentation to help them document describe how their participation in the activities/experiences impacted their teaching or their students' learning. During this time they will also keep records or that will help them document What? Who? When? Which? How? (What was the activity? Who participated? When did the activity occur? Which Teacher Performance Standards were directly addressed by the activity? How did participation in the activity impact teaching or student learning?)

Year 5

Teachers will complete and submit the Reflection Report at least 6 months prior to expiration of their license. In the report they will reflect on how their participation in the professional growth activities/experiences impacted their teaching or their students' learning.

Draft Forms for License Renewal

The following are forms mentioned above. Please note that until completion of the Board's License Renewal Pilot Project, these are in draft form and subject to revision. They are provided here to give an idea of what the process entails. They are not intended to be immediately used and submitted. Once the forms are finalized, teachers will be informed of their availability as well as of instructions and deadlines for submittal, etc.

Professional Growth Plan

Professional Growth Experiences

Reflection Report

Teacher Performance Standards

School Counselor Performance Standards

School Librarian Performance Standards