Upgrading Your Certificate from an IPC to a CCPC
This process for upgrading is for individuals who hold a valid and active Missouri teaching certificate that is about to expire. In order to upgrade your certification from an Initial Professional Certificate (IPC) to a Career Continuous Professional Certificate (CCPC), you must meet the following requirements:
- Accumulated four years of state-approved teaching experience (at least half time) in an accredited public or private school setting.
- Developed and implemented a professional development plan of at least 30 contact hours, approved by the employing school district.
- Participated in a mentoring program for a minimum of two school years.
- Completed a Beginning Teacher Assistance Program with a college or university.
- Participated in the district’s Performance-Based Teacher Evaluations (PBTE).
You may complete the Upgrade application by choosing “DESE Web Applications” at the DESE Homepage or at DESE Educator Certification. You will take the following steps:
- Enter your User Name and Password and click “Login.”
- Enter your Profile by clicking on “Educator Certification System” link under “DESE Web Applications” located under the “User Information” heading.
- New Applications (click the black triangle to the left of #3)
- Select “Upgrade Professional” link
- Review your Personal Information and Education. If any of this information needs to be updated, click on the “Profile” or “Education” link on the left to update this information. Then return to the application.
- Answer all of the “Professional Conduct” questions.
- Under Purpose of Application, select “I request that my classification be upgraded to a Career Continuous Professional Certificate.”
- Select your payment method.
- Under “Release of Educational Information,” click “I Accept.”
- Enter your employing school district.
- Select “Submit & Pay”
Your application will then be sent electronically to the DESE work log for your school district. You should notify the person in your school who is responsible for certification that you have submitted your request for an upgrade. Your school will then verify that you meet the criteria for an upgrade and submit your application to DESE. From there, your upgrade should be approved within 8-12 weeks.
To check the status of a submitted application, you can view the "application status" section of your DESE profile page.
Renewing/Extending a Teaching Certificate
If you are currently teaching but have not met the requirements above to upgrade your certificate from an IPC to a CCPC, you may request that DESE “renew or extend” your current certificate. This will extend your original IPC certificate for an additional four years in order to give you more time to meet the requirements to upgrade. Renewing/Extending an IPC certificate essentially resets your four-year time period. However, you do not need to wait four more years to upgrade to a CCPC. You may upgrade from the IPC to the CCPC when you have met the requirements.
You may complete the Extension application by choosing “DESE Web Applications” at the DESE Homepage or at DESE Educator Certification. You will take the following steps:
- Enter your User Name and Password and click “Login.”
- Enter your Profile by clicking on “Educator Certification System” link under “DESE Web Applications” located under the “User Information” heading.
- New Applications (click the black triangle to the left of #3)
- Select “Extension Cert” link
- Review your Personal Information and Education. If any of this information needs to be updated, click on the “Profile” or “Education” link on the left to update this information. Then return to the application.
- Answer all of the “Professional Conduct” questions.
- Under Purpose of Application, select the appropriate response.
- Under “Release of Educational Information,” click “I Accept.”
- Enter your employing school district. (Note: You should contact your district and let them know that you have submitted this application to their work log.)
- Click “Submit”
Reactivating an Expired Certificate
If your teaching certificate has expired and you don’t meet the requirements to Upgrade or Renew/Extend your certificate, you can “Reactivate” your expired certificate if you meet one of the following criteria:
- You have completed a 2‑3 semester hour college course. The course may be at the undergraduate or graduate level. It should be relevant to your professional growth as an educator. It should not be a repeat of a course you have already completed. Once you complete the course and it is posted on a transcript, you will need to complete the on‑line Reactivation Application. The course you choose to use for re-activation may not be over six months old at the time you submit the Reactivation Application. Official transcripts verifying completion of the course must be submitted to DESE for verification.
- You have been hired at least half-time as a teacher by a Missouri school district. You will need to complete the on-line Reactivation Application and submit it to your school district. The application will prompt you to choose your employing Missouri school district. The district will verify your employment and submit your application to the department for approval. By submitting the application, your school district is attesting that you will complete 24 contact hours of professional development either six months prior to or after reactivation of your certificate.
For either option, if your background check clearance is more than a year old, you will be required to complete a new background check.
You may complete the Reactivation application by choosing “DESE Web Applications” at the DESE Homepage or at DESE Educator Certification. You will take the following steps:
- Enter your User Name and Password and click “Login.”
- Enter your Profile by clicking on “Educator Certification System” link under “DESE Web Applications” located under the “User Information” heading.
- New Applications (click the black triangle to the left of #3)
- Select “Reactivation Cert” link
- Review your Personal Information and Education. If any of this information needs to be updated, click on the “Profile” or “Education” link on the left to update this information. Then return to the application.
- Answer all of the “Professional Conduct” questions.
- Under Purpose of Application, select the appropriate response.
- Check the certificate you wish to reactivate.
- Under “Release of Educational Information,” click “I Accept.”
- If you indicated you have been hired, you need to enter your employing school district. (Note: You should contact your district and let them know that you have submitted this application to their work log.) They will then submit it to DESE.
- Click “Submit”
» PEU » Certification
