Skip to Content

Renew Professional Teacher & Professional School Service Personnel Licenses

The Professional Teacher & Professional School Service Personnel License must be renewed every ten years.

  • All educators that were issued a Professional License prior to July 1, 1984, and the license have not been renewed and did not teach in either a Tennessee public school or appropriately accredited private school prior to that date, their license will either be converted to an Apprentice or Out of State teacher license.  (The Out of State license will be issued upon evidence of acceptable out of state teaching experience.)
  • All educators holding a Professional License based on a Bachelor's degree must earn 90 renewal points.
  • All educators holding a Professional License based on a Master's degree or higher who have not accrued five years of acceptable experience during the ten-year validity period of the license (ex: 2002-2012) are required to earn 90 renewal points.
  • All educators holding a Professional License based on a Master's degree or higher, and has accrued five years of acceptable experience during the ten-year validity period of the license (ex: 2002-2012), no renewal points are required, only verification of that experience. If all experience has been in Tennessee public school systems no verification by the applicant is required.  Click to download an experience verification formdownload pdf file.   Click to obtain informationdownload pdf file on what constitutes acceptable experience for renewal in Tennessee.

Reminder - A Professional Level License can be renewed anytime after the fifth year of validity.  Ex: A license validity of 2006 to 2016 can be renewed after March 1, 2011.  It will extend the validity until 2026.

Renewal activities should focus on the goals of the educator that are consistent with those of the school, school system, state, district, or nation and should be part of the educator's professional growth plan as designed for the educator within the state evaluation model.The activities used for renewal purposes should be planned jointly with the person who conducts the local evaluation for the educator. Activities should focus on goals of the educator for strengthening content, pedagogical, or professional skills, and for remaining current on other educational issues.These activities are to enhance the skills of the educator or their enhancing the skills of other educators, and should be geared to improving student performance in the PreK-12 classroom environment.

Renewal points may be earned in a variety of ways. For example, an educator may choose to complete course work, or participate in pre-approved professional development activities. Professional development activities cannot be part of the state funded in-service days and cannot be conducted during days and/or hours for which educators are already being paid by local school systems. If employed in a TN public school system, the activities cannot be attended during school hours. (Exception: activities completed on personal/professional days may be usable by Tennessee public school educators)

For renewal purposes an educator cannot use the same activity completed/attended/conducted more than once. Example: mentoring, working with student teachers, SACS committees, school improvement activities, CPR certification. Activities that are not PreK-12 education related enhancing the ability of the educator may not be acceptable.For example: Athletics, Coaching/Clinics, Band Camp/Director, Bus Driver Competitions, Choral Presentations, Club Sponsorship, or Christian Education (private school educators), etc.

Click to download renewal guidelinesdownload pdf file and license renewal options table.

Acceptable Course Work For Renewal Purposes

Course work must be completed at a regionally accredited institution. 

If an educator chooses to renew by taking coursework, academic credit at the undergraduate level must be earned in professional education (includes early childhood education, psychology, english as a second language, special education, and gifted education), area of endorsement(s) on license, computer science/computer technology, or foreign language(s). (Sign language is not considered a foreign language and can only be used if the educator is endorsed in any area of Special Education)

Graduate level coursework may be earned in any area which is clearly related to public education.

If the courses are taken at an out of state institution, the educator will need to obtain prior approval of coursework.  (Many institutions offer graduate level units of credit but the course is considered a professional development course)

All coursework must be reflected on an official transcript from an accredited university and submitted to the Office of Teacher Licensing with the renewal application. The Office of Teacher Licensing has made an agreement to accept transcripts directly from Scrip-Safe as well as any institution offering secure access.

To obtain more information on acceptable course work click on the renewal guidelinesdownload pdf file link and license renewal options table.

Tennessee Public School Educators

If the educator is employed in a Tennessee public school system, all professional development activities being considered for renewal purposes must be approved in advance by the person responsible for conducting local evaluations. A renewal computation sheet must be completed by educators using professional development activities to renew their license. Each activity should be listed separately to include the name of the activity, the dates attended/presented, and the number of points accrued for a total of 90 renewal points.The focus/subject of each activity attended/presented should be listed. (Ex:If attending annual conferences do not list the name of the conference multiple times, list the focus of each workshop within the conference attended/presented.)

Part I of the computation sheet must be completed by both the educator and the person who is responsible for conducting your local evaluations.All of the statements in this section must be attested to by both the educator and the evaluator by initialing them on each line and signed by both. No attached lists will be accepted in lieu of listing activities on computation sheet.If multiple pages are needed, all pages must be completed and signed by both educator and evaluator.

Documentation indicating participation in the renewal activities must be retained at the local school system. Just the completed computation sheet(s) need to be submitted to the Office of Teacher Licensing with the renewal application. Click to download a renewal computation sheetdownload pdf file. Click to download a Professional renewal applicationdownload pdf file

Non-public School Or Out Of State Educators

Educators that hold the Professional or Professional School Service Personnel licenses and are not employed in a Tennessee public school system at time of application must complete a computation sheet reflecting the professional development activities to be considered for the renewal of their license and attach supporting documentation.

Each activity should be listed separately to include the name (focus) of the activity, the date attended, and the number of points accrued for a total of 90 renewal points. The documentation must be authenticated by someone other than the educator and can be as simple as a certificate of attendance/participation. The documentation should include the name (focus) of the activity, the dates attended/presented, the number or hours in attendance/presentation, and contact information of the signee.The person verifying educator's attendance/presentation should be an authorized official of the school, the education agency responsible for the activity or college/university employed.(No more than 2 pages of documentation per activity should be submitted) Examples of unacceptable documentation: registration forms, agenda's, payment receipts, handouts, sign in sheets, etc. No attached lists will be accepted in lieu of listing activities on the computation sheet.Signature is required in Part II of the computation sheet. If multiple pages are needed, all pages must be completed and signed by educator. Supervisor signature Part I of computation sheet will not be accepted in lieu of documentation submission.Click to download a renewal computation sheetdownload pdf file. Click to download a Professional renewal applicationdownload pdf file