Act48 Approved Courses

Approved Act 48 Courses for PA Teacher License Renewal

Affordable, online Act 48 courses to renew your Pennsylvania teaching certificate.

  • Each year, hundreds of Pennsylvania teachers renew with Model Teaching’s cost-effective, Act 48-approved online courses -everything you need in one place.

  • Learn more below about Pennsylvania teacher certificate renewal requirements – and how our courses can help.

Professional development courses
Home » PD Requirements By State » Pennsylvania Teacher Professional Development

Professional Development for Pennsylvania Teachers

High-quality, straightforward, and cost-effective online courses for Pennsylvania Teachers.  Let us show you how we can help you improve your teaching effectiveness, maintain your teaching license, and advance your teaching career.

  • Easy, Template-Based Course Format Built to Help You Earn Your Act 48 Hours Quickly

  • High-Quality Courses, Full of Resources, Tools, & Templates
  • Access Your Courses Immediately, Any-Time, Anywhere & at Your Own Pace
Pay for Credits As You Go

Act 48 Approved Provider

All Model Teaching Professional Development (Hours-based) courses are pre-approved by PA DOE for Act 48 hours. PDE AUN #:  300007797. All completed courses will be uploaded to your PERMS account.

NOTE: The PA DOE limits coursework to 8 hours per day – please plan accordingly.

Act 48 Courses for Certificate Renewal

Hundreds of Pennsylvania teachers utilize Model Teaching Act 48 courses each year to earn the required hours for license renewal. All Model Teaching regular Professional Development (PD) courses are pre-approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PA DOE) to earn Act 48 hours for license renewal. You may choose any Model Teaching courses of interest or enroll in one of our Course Bundle Packs – the most cost-effective way to earn your Act 48 hours.

You can search and find Model Teaching (AUN number and PERMS status) in the PERMS system at the Penn DOE here: https://www.perms.pa.gov/Shared/Screens/wfSearchProvider.aspx

Just click “approved providers”, then search for “Model Teaching”.

We will upload all of your earned Act 48 hours upon course completion.

What Are the Pennsylvania Certificate Renewal Requirements?

In Pennsylvania, most actively certified educators must complete ongoing professional development every 5 years under “Act 48.” You can meet this by earning either 6 semester credits or 180 clock hours of approved PD – any combination works (PDE treats 1 semester credit as 30 hours).

General License Terms:

  • Teaching Certificate Term: 5 years
  • Credits Required: 6 semester credits or 180 Act 48 hours from an approved provider
  • Any combo will work. Note: 1 semester credit = 30 hours.

Acceptable Credits for Pennsylvania Certificate Renewal:

Pennsylvania recognizes multiple continuing education credits and courses for renewing teacher certificates.

  • Act 48 Courses From an Approved Provider: Teachers may complete their 180 Act 48 hours from an approved course provider.  (What we recommend – most cost-effective. see below)
  • Accredited Semester Credits: Teachers may also take graduate-level semester credit courses to earn their Act 48 hours. Model Teaching provides both approved Act 48 courses and semester credit courses through our university partners; however, these are more expensive. This is why we recommend our regular PD courses for PA certificate renewal. Consider our credit courses if you wish to combine salary advancement with your 5-year license renewal. Note, you may earn 30 Act 48 hours for every 1 credit.
  • Workshops, conferences, etc: Only if a certificate is provided. Make sure your workshop will report your PD activities to your PERMS account.

How Model Teaching Can Help

Model Teaching offers online, self-paced Act 48 courses that provide you with the needed Act 48 hours for renewal.  Model Teaching is an approved Act 48 provider, and your completed courses will be automatically uploaded into your PERMS account following completion.  Our course catalog emphasizes practical, classroom-focused topics – assessment, differentiation, classroom management, literacy, special education – which align with PDE’s requirement that learning be connected to your certification area.  Model Teaching also provides semester credit courses through our university partners; however, these tend to be more expensive. For regular license renewal, we recommend our hours-based PD Act 48 courses.  Consider our semester credit courses if you wish to pair salary scale advancement with earning your Act 48 credits.

Consider our Pennsylvania Teacher Act 48 Bundle Pack to access over hundreds of hours of Act 48-approved PD hours for one low price today.

How Our Courses Work

Quick FAQs

Yes. All Model Teaching PD courses are Act 48-approved. You may complete our regular PD Act 48 courses OR if you wish to pair your license renewal with salary scale advancement, you may also take our university-partnered credit courses. For all Act 48 courses completed, we will upload your Act 48 hours to your PERMS account for you.

All Model Teaching PD courses are pre-approved.  You may select from individual courses from our Course Menu or select one of our cost-effective bundle packages, including our cost-effective Pennsylvania Teacher Act 48 Course Bundle Pack (See Below).  For Pennsylvania teacher license renewal, you do NOT need to take our academic-partnered graduate-level courses, only our regular Professional Development courses.

The most cost-effective option for teachers who need the maximum number of Act 48 credit hours is our Pennsylvania Teacher Act 48 Course Bundle Pack (See Below).

Model Teaching believes that teachers should be provided with affordable, high-quality opportunities for professional development, whether they are seeking salary advancement, renewing their teaching license, or simply improving their instructional effectiveness.  Our streamlined and standardized course structure allows us to deliver high-quality, evaluated courses to teachers at costs far below the industry standard.  Additionally, by bundling our courses together, we are able to significantly reduce our overall costs – passing these savings on to our valued teachers.  Call or chat with us if you have any questions about how the courses work.

Yes, Model Teaching will automatically submit your Act 48 hours to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PADOE).  We upload our teachers’ submitted course information approximately every two weeks.  You will automatically see your completed courses populate your account as you complete our courses.

We will collect your required PA DOE information at the end of your course (ex. PPID, etc.)

NOTE: PA teachers are limited to completing no more than 8 hours of coursework per day, so please plan accordingly.

HELPFUL LINKS FOR PENNSYLVANIA TEACHERS

Pennsylvania Teacher Professional Development

Pennsylvania Department of Education – Certification

Earn credits to reach your Level II Certification:

If you are a Pennsylvania educator, you probably know that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) requires all Level I Certificates to be converted to Level II within six years of service. This requirement means you must complete 24 credits of coursework from a regionally accredited university, with 6 of those credits in your content area and focused on improving your teaching practice. 

Model Teaching offers the lowest-cost option for this requirement through our 24-credit bundle, where you can save significantly by bundling your graduate-level credit courses with us. Simply enroll in the 24-credit bundle (or, if you have already accumulated some credits, the credit bundle number of your choice), choose your courses and university partner, and complete your courses.

Because we only partner with regionally-accredited universities to offer graduate-level credits and provide you with 100+ course options to choose from, you can select the right courses that work for you to satisfy and reach your Level II certification.

Additional Information for Renewal

  • Some mandatory compliance trainings are often required by LEAs (can sometimes be recorded toward Act 48 if delivered by an approved provider and properly reported):

    • Act 126 Child Abuse Recognition & Reporting-3 hours/5 years.

    • Act 71 Youth Suicide Awareness & Prevention-training for grades 6-12 personnel; many LEAs implement ~4 hours/5 years; confirm district/provider specifics.

Administrators in Act 45/PIL positions (principals, etc.)

  • Every 5 years: 180 hours (or 6 PIL credits) of Act 45/PIL PD. (This is in addition to Act 48 status management.)

Reference: Pennsylvania Department of Education

*Please refer to the Pennsylvania DOE for the most up-to-date and accurate information (https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators/certification) on Pennsylvania teacher recertification requirements.

Act 48 Courses for PA Certificate Renewal

What We Recommend For Pennsylvania Teachers

Build Your Own Act 48 Course Bundle

Everything You Need for Your Pennsylvania License Renewal

Access Our Full Course Menu to Earn Your Required Number of Act 48 Hours

  • Our complete course menu! Includes Full Access to over 100 Courses worth up to 650 Act 48 hours

  • Register For Any Hours Package, Take Any Courses Until You Use Up All of Your Hours

  • Choose from our entire suite of PD courses and work to complete as many as you wish at your own pace

  • Course completion certificates provided with all completed courses, we submit your hours to PERMS for you

  • Great for teachers currently teaching, as well as teachers not teaching but wish to maintain their license

Act 48 Course Bundle
Learn About The Bundle

Salary Advancement Courses For Pennsylvania Teachers

Model Teaching partners with regionally-accredited universities across the country to provide graduate-level courses to thousands of K-12 teachers and educators every year. Generally, school districts across the country provide various salary scale advancement opportunities to teachers that often includes participation in graduate-level professional development. Our university-partnered, graduate-level courses are an excellent and cost-effective way for you to earn the continuing education academic credit you need.

University Accredited Seal-color-min

Accredited University Credits with Official Transcripts

Receive an official transcript and letter-grade with every graduate-level course. All of our university partners are regionally-accredited and courses are designed primarily for teacher salary-advancement and license-renewal.

Convenient & Cost-Effective Online Courses Built for Simplicity

We make earning your academic credits easy and cost-effective by bundling our courses into packages so you can earn the maximum number of credits for a lower cost.  All Model Teaching courses provide you with relevant, implementation-focused training along with dozens of templates & tools to help you put your new skills into action.

All Model Teaching university partners are regionally-accredited universities who offer our courses in partnership for graduate-level, academic and/or post-bachelorette credit.  Most states and school districts allow teachers to earn this type of credit as part of advancing in the salary scale.  Please check with your district’s policies regarding continuing education for salary advancement prior to enrolling.

The most cost-effective way to earn credits is by enrolling in one of our course bundle packs.

Please refer to our course menu for a listing of graduate-level courses. Within each course page, you will have access to a syllabus that you may download.

Yes, all university-partnered graduate-level courses will include access to an official transcript from the university.

Yes! You may apply up to 9 credits towards an M.Ed. program through our university partner, Augustana University. Read more here >

To read a live list of running reviews from teachers currently taking our courses, please visit: https://www.modelteaching.com/latest-course-reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

Pennsylvania Act 48 teacher certificate renewal — requirements, hours, and how to get started

Pennsylvania teachers must earn 180 Act 48 hours, 6 semester credits, or 6 CPE credits from a PDE-approved provider every 5 years. You can also use any combination of these. One semester credit equals 30 Act 48 hours, so 6 credits cover the full 180-hour requirement. All credits and hours must relate to your certification area or teaching assignment.
Act 48 is a 1999 Pennsylvania law requiring all educators holding PA public school certification to complete ongoing professional development every 5 years. This includes Instructional I and II, Educational Specialist, Administrative, Supervisory, and vocational certificate holders — whether or not they are currently employed in a PA school. Non-certified teachers and administrators at charter schools are also included.
Yes. Six semester credits from an accredited college or university satisfy the full Act 48 requirement. Each semester credit equals 30 hours. You can also combine semester credits with Act 48 hours from approved providers. For most teachers renewing their license only, hours-based courses from an approved provider are the cheaper option. Semester credits make more sense if you also want salary advancement.
If you do not complete your 180 hours by the end of your 5-year compliance period, PDE will change your certificate status to inactive. You will not be able to work as a professional employee in a Pennsylvania public school until you complete the remaining requirements. You can still substitute teach for up to 180 days per year with an inactive certificate, though some districts require active status even for substitutes.
Log in to the Professional Education Record Management System (PERMS) at perms.pa.gov using your Professional Personnel ID (PPID). PERMS shows your current 5-year compliance period, total hours recorded, carryover hours from your previous cycle, and the number of hours you still need. If you do not know your PPID, you can retrieve it on the PERMS site with your social security number and date of birth.
Yes. Model Teaching is a PDE-approved Act 48 provider (AUN 300007797). After you complete a course, Model Teaching uploads your Act 48 hours to your PERMS account approximately every two weeks. You will need to provide your PPID at the end of your course so your hours can be matched to your record.
Yes. All Model Teaching professional development courses are pre-approved by PDE for Act 48 hours. You can verify Model Teaching as an approved provider in PERMS by searching for "approved providers" and entering Model Teaching. The course catalog covers classroom management, literacy, differentiation, special education, assessment, and other topics that meet PDE's requirement for learning connected to your certification area.
The Pennsylvania Teacher Act 48 Course Bundle Pack from Model Teaching gives you access to the full course menu — up to 650 Act 48 hours — for one flat price. You pick any courses you want and work at your own pace for a full year. Since hours-based PD courses are less expensive than semester credit courses, this is the most cost-effective option for teachers focused on license renewal.
Bundle Pack