Arkansas Code
Subchapter 7 - Professional Development
§ 6-17-705. Professional development credit

(a) Up to twelve (12) hours of professional development credit, or professional learning credits as determined by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, may be earned by licensed personnel for time required at the beginning of each school year to plan and prepare a curriculum and other instructional material for their assigned classes if the time is:
(1) Spent in their classrooms, offices, or media centers at the public school; and
(2) Before the first student-teacher interaction day of the school year, but a school district shall not require licensed personnel to work additional days that are not included in their contracts unless the licensed personnel are paid their daily rate of pay.

(b) Licensed personnel shall earn one (1) hour of professional development credit, or professional learning credits as determined by the division, for each hour of planning and preparation that meets the requirements of subsection (a) of this section.
(c)
(1) If illness of a teacher or a teacher's immediate family under § 6-17-1202 prevents a teacher from obtaining the required professional development, the teacher shall be allowed to make up the professional development missed during the:
(A) Remainder of the current school year; or
(B) Succeeding school year.

(2) The teacher may earn the professional development hours, or professional learning credits as determined by the division, through online professional development.

(d) A person who holds any license issued by the State Board of Education may obtain credit for required professional development through a micro-credentialing process approved by the division.
(e) The state board shall promulgate the rules necessary for the proper implementation of this section.

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