The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Rules Governing Professional Development, July 2005 (http://www.arkansased.org/rules/pdf/current/ade207_professional_development.pdf) require that professional development programs be approved by the ADE before the program can be used to satisfy the 60-hour professional development requirement for Arkansas licensed educators.
To expedite the approval process, the ADE has created an online approval site at: http://adedata.k12.ar.us/profdev, which will allow submission via the Internet. All organizations, vendors, individuals and agencies, need to submit all program applications for professional development approval via this website, except as noted below, per Section 3.08 of the Rules Governing Professional Development, July 2005, which states:
3.08 Approved Professional Development Provider - means any organization which provides content for professional development credit, whether delivered in a face-to-face, televised or internet mode of delivery, whose content has been approved by the ADE to meet the annual professional development credit requirements imposed upon licensed teachers and administrators by Arkansas Statutes and ADE Rules. The term “Approved Professional Development Provider” does not apply to an Arkansas public school district which provides a professional development program solely to its own personnel or to an Education Cooperative which provides professional development to districts/schools.
In the future, the ADE online approval site will be housed at the Arkansas Internet Delivered Education for Arkansas Schools (IDEAS)portal located at www.arkansasideas.org. Notification will be provided when this change occurs.