Upgrading your Teaching Certificate

This process 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:

  • 4 years of state-approved teaching experience
  • Develop and implement a professional development plan of at least 30 contact hours, approved by the employing school district
  • Participate in a mentoring program for a minimum of two (2) school years
  • Participate in a Beginning Teacher Assistance Program
  • Participate in the district's Performance-Based Teacher Evaluations (PBTE's)

Process to apply for an upgrade to a CCPC certificate

Please begin by going to Department of Elementary and Secondary Education:

    • Click "Educator Certification" in the center of the page.
    • From this page, click on "Educator Certification System" in the center of the page. You can also click on "Web Application" on the lower right. Both will take you to the login screen.
    • Enter your DESE User Name and Password and click "login"
    • Under the Heading "DESE Web Applications", click on "Educator Certification System".
  1. New Applications (Click the black triangle to the left of #3)
    • Click on the "Upgrade Professional" link.
    • Review your applicant information and education information. 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 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 Information", click "I accept".
    • Enter your employing school district.
    • Click "submit to district" or "pay and submit to district" depending on your payment method

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.