Master Professional Educator Designation Pathways

The Master Professional Educator designation provides a career continuum for teachers who love to teach and want to impact students from the classroom. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) recognizes the critical role of teacher efficacy in student achievement, and the Master Professional Educator designation is one opportunity ADE has established to reward excellent teachers and keep their talents in the classroom.

Becoming a Master Professional Educator

ADE has approved several pathways that lead to the Master Professional Educator designation. Once the Master Professional Educator designation is earned, it remains on the teacher’s license for the duration of his or her career. Regardless of the pathway, a teacher interested in receiving a Master Professional Educator designation must have the following:

Documentation of three (3) years of licensed teaching experience in the licensed academic content area. This experience may include time spent teaching with a provisional license, but the teacher must have a standard Arkansas teaching license to be eligible. (Educator Effectiveness no longer has access to ratings in Edreflect. The only rating that can be pulled is from the Educator Effectiveness System.)
Evidence of an effective or highly effective rating on TESS on the applicant’s most recent summative evaluation conducted within the previous 4 years.

Teachers who fulfill the bulleted criterion above may select one of the pathways below to earn the Master Professional Educator designation:

Master Professional Educator Designation Pathways

Award Pathway:

Because recipients of these awards have been vetted through a highly competitive process, winners of the following awards in educational excellence are eligible for the Master Professional Educator licensure designation:

National Board Pathway: The Master Professional Educator designation is awarded to teachers who have successfully completed the rigorous process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT). The designation remains on the teacher’s license after the NBCT status has expired, but only active NBCT’s are eligible to apply.

Single Subject Master’s Degree in an Academic Content Area plus ADE-approved Micro-credential Pathway:

The ADE recognizes the value of a teachers’ content knowledge, but also the importance of pedagogy to impart their knowledge to students. Teachers who have earned a master’s degree in an academic content area may pair the degree with two approved micro-credentials to receive the Master Professional Educator designation.

Option 1

Master’s degree + Providing Feedback for Professional Growth + Scaffolding Instruction to Elevate Rigor. (micro-credentials offered through ArkansasIDEAS)

Option 2

Master’s degree + Facilitating Adult Learning + Building Collaborative Relationships to Foster Shared Purpose (micro-credentials offered through Bloomboard)

BloomBoard’s Master Professional Educator Micro-Endorsement Pathway:

Teachers choosing this pathway complete a stack of 6 micro-credentials— four of the micro-credentials related to instructional practice and two related to supporting colleagues in their professional practice. Micro-credentials in this stack require job-embedded demonstrations of the micro-credential competency, so successful completion will be dependent on evidence and artifacts gathered through work with students and colleagues.

The High Reliability Teacher (HRT) Program Pathway:

Teachers who participate in the HRT Program through Marzano Resources learn the process necessary for continuous improvement of teaching practices, grow professionally in instruction and assessment, improve student achievement, and expand their career opportunities. Teachers who successfully complete Level 1 (Effective Use of Instructional Strategies) and Level 2 (Student Learning) of the HRT Program are eligible to receive the Master Professional Educator designation.