Renewal of Certificate
SC Renewal of Certificate
This page provides resources and guidance for South Carolina educators seeking renewal credit to maintain their professional certification. Find information about renewal requirements, approved professional learning opportunities, documentation, and other helpful resources.
Steps for Renewing Your SC Teaching Certificate
1.Check your certification status.
Log in to the My SC Educator Portal to review your certificate, expiration date, certification areas, and any outstanding requirements.
2.Know your renewal requirements.
Professional certificate holders generally need 120 renewal credits within their five-year renewal cycle. Depending on your position and certification, you may also need to meet Read to Succeed (R2S) and/or Jason Flatt Act requirements.
3.Choose eligible professional learning activities.
Renewal credit may be earned through approved professional development, college coursework, CEUs, district professional learning, mentoring/coaching, presenting or teaching professional development, and other approved activities.
4.Check before completing outside professional development.
If you are unsure whether an activity will qualify for renewal credit, check with your district's renewal coordinator before enrolling or participating.
(Email or call Monika Kearns at 843-623-5550 ext 1023 to see if it is an eligible/approved
activitiy for employees.)
5.Keep your documentation.
Save certificates of completion, transcripts, CEU documentation, and any other records showing successful completion of your professional learning. These documents may be needed to verify your renewal credits.
6.Submit documentation to the district.
Teachers should submit renewal documentation to Monika Kearns at the District office. District employees should not submit their renewal request directly to SCDE. Don't wait until the last minute.
7.Periodically review your progress toward the 120-credit requirement and make sure any Read to Succeed or Jason Flatt requirements have been completed before your certificate expires.
For complete state requirements and eligible renewal activities, visit the SCDE Renewal Credit Options page.
Tip: Renewal requirements can vary depending on certificate type, certification area, position, and employment status. When in doubt, teachers should contact the Teacher Effectiveness Department before completing an activity for renewal credit
-
VirtualSC PD offers renewal courses to assist South Carolina certified educators with certificate renewal.
-
The SC Educator Portal is an enhanced educator certification and information system released on May 5, 2022. All certification records from the prior system remain accessible through SC Educator. With increased functionality, the new system allows educators to submit requests and upload documents directly into their certification records.
To access SC Educator for the first time, you must register for a new user account even if you have viewed or submitted records using a different portal previously. -
Current and prospective educators are encouraged to provide a personal email address during the registration process, rather than an email account associated with an employer, college, or university. After registering, you will log in with your email address as the username and then create a password. Once you have created the new account successfully, log in and enter the authentication code sent to your email address. Be sure to check junk and spam folders if you do not receive an email with an authentication code.
If you have not already, Create a user account in the new SC Department Certification Portal - SC Educator Portal. (Please email SCDE at certification@ed.sc.gov if you have any problems/questions when creating your user account.) -
- Apply for certification
- make requests for certificate changes and updates
- upload supporting documents
- view and print a current certificate
- submit fee payments
- review fingerprint procedures
- update contact information
- monitor the status of requests and applications
- review certification information
- In addition, registered users will receive email notifications when updates are made to their requests and applications, and the SCDE will post correspondence directly in an educator’s user account
-
-
- Send Certificate of Completion (for college credits, submit official transcript)
- Complete and submit the appropriate Option Form along with the documentation of completion to ensure prompt processing.
As in the past, certificate renewal requests and renewal credits must be sent to our office for processing. Email these requests, along with documentation to Monika Kearns. You will NOT need to upload these requests/documents into the new certification portal (SC Educator). However, once processed, you will be able to view your renewal credits via the SC Educator certification portal.