Delaware Teacher Certification Renewal
Delaware teacher certification renewal happens on a five-year cycle for a Continuing License, requiring 90 clock hours of professional development through DEEDS, with at least 45 of those hours tied directly to student or staff work. An Initial License can’t be renewed itself. After four years of teaching and meeting Delaware’s initial licensure requirements, including an approved mentoring program if required, an educator becomes eligible for issuance of a Continuing License. Educators whose license expired within the past five years may qualify for reinstatement if they meet Delaware’s renewal requirements.
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Delaware runs its licensure system through DEEDS, the Delaware Educator Data System, and the Professional Standards Board sets the rules that the Delaware Department of Education administers. Here’s how Delaware teacher certification renewal and reinstatement actually work. If you’re still working out your initial path to certification, start with the Delaware teaching certification overview. Teachers licensed in another state should check Delaware’s teacher reciprocity rules before assuming standard renewal applies to them.
Teaching Certification Renewal
Once you hold your Initial License to teach in Delaware, you’ll also receive your Standard Certificate(s) after passing the required content-readiness exam(s) for the certificate area. The Initial License itself is valid for four years and cannot be renewed. Instead, once you complete those four years while working as a teacher, meet Delaware’s initial licensure requirements, and finish an approved mentoring program, if required, you become eligible for issuance of a Continuing License. That mentoring program focuses on best practices in curriculum, instruction, and assessment aligned with standards set by the Delaware Department of Education. You and your mentor both report mentoring activity on the forms listed here.
A Continuing License is valid for five years. To renew it, you need 90 clock hours of professional development during that period, and at least 45 of those hours must relate directly to your work with students or staff. Log this activity through your DEEDS Educator Dashboard or on the Activity Documentation Form, and submit it at renewal time. Approved professional development options are listed here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Moving to an Advanced License
Delaware’s top licensure tier is the Advanced License, valid for ten years. To reach it, you need National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification on top of your Continuing License requirements. Renewing an Advanced License means completing the National Board’s own renewal process and submitting your updated National Board Certificate, either to your school’s human resources office or directly to the Department if you don’t work for a Delaware public or charter school. Miss that renewal window, and you’re issued a Continuing License instead, with the standard 90 clock hours to complete.
Standard Certificates themselves are always valid and never expire. If you want to add certification in a new endorsement area at any point during your license, you’ll need to meet the specific requirements established for that certification area, which can include coursework, testing, or other qualification pathways, depending on the certificate. You can apply for additional certificates online through DEEDS.
Reinstatement of Certification
Educators whose Delaware license expired within the previous five years may qualify for reinstatement through DEEDS if they meet Delaware’s renewal requirements, including 90 clock hours of professional development completed during the past five years. If you haven’t worked under that license during that window, you’ll also need to complete an approved mentoring program, if required, within your first year back in the classroom. Wait more than five years to reinstate, and the option disappears. At that point,t you have to reapply for an Initial License and meet every current requirement for initial licensure from scratch.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How often do Delaware teachers renew their certification?
It depends on the license tier. A Continuing License renews every five years with 90 clock hours of professional development. An Advanced License renews through the National Board’s own ten-year cycle. An Initial License doesn’t renew at all. After four years of teaching and meeting Delaware’s initial licensure requirements, an educator becomes eligible for issuance of a Continuing License.
What happens if my Delaware teaching license expires?
If it’s been less than five years, you may qualify for reinstatement through DEEDS by meeting Delaware’s renewal requirements, including 90 clock hours of professional development from that period, plus an approved mentoring program if you haven’t been teaching. In the past five years, you have had to start over with a new Initial License application.
Do I need teaching experience to renew a Delaware license?
Not necessarily. What matters for renewal is documenting your clock hours. But if you’re reinstating a lapsed license and haven’t been working under it, Delaware requires an approved mentoring program during your first year back, regardless of your prior experience.
Does Delaware require National Board certification to renew?
Only for the Advanced License tier. A Continuing License renews on the standard 90-clock-hour cycle. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification is what gets you to, and keeps you at, the ten-year Advanced License level.
- Continuing Licenses renew every five years — 90 clock hours of professional development, with at least 45 tied directly to student or staff work.
- Initial Licenses don’t renew; they upgrade. After four years of teaching and meeting Delaware’s initial licensure requirements, an educator becomes eligible for issuance of a Continuing License.
- DEEDS is the system of record — the Delaware Educator Data System handles renewal applications, clock-hour documentation, and additional certificate requests.
- Reinstatement has a five-year window — lapse longer than that, and you’re back to applying for an Initial License under current requirements.
Find accredited teacher certification and continuing education programs that support your Delaware licensing timeline, from Initial License through Advanced License renewal.
