Short answer
How do Missouri teachers keep a certificate current and move up the salary schedule?
New teachers hold a four-year Initial Professional Classification (IPC), then move to the Career Continuous Professional Classification (CCPC), which stays valid when the district verifies 15 contact hours of professional development each school year. One college credit hour counts as 15 contact hours. Salary columns are set by each district, above minimums written into state law.
Source: 5 CSR 20-400.260, Missouri Code of State Regulations. Checked .
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How do you renew a Missouri teaching certificate?
Missouri's certificate rules sit in the State Board of Education's regulations. The renewal rule, 5 CSR 20-400.260, sets two classification levels and a single conversion table that applies to both.
The conversion table defines a contact hour three ways:
- Time: sixty minutes of professional development equals one contact hour.
- College credit: one hour of college credit equals 15 contact hours.
- Micro-credentials: one professional micro-credential equals 15 contact hours.
Initial Professional Classification (IPC). The IPC is issued for four years to a new teacher with less than four years of approved experience. During those four years, the teacher must:
- verify four years of state-approved teaching experience;
- develop and carry out a professional development plan of at least 30 contact hours, approved by the employing district;
- take part in a mentoring program for at least two school years;
- take part in a beginning teacher assistance program; and
- take part in the district's performance-based teacher evaluations.
Career Continuous Professional Classification (CCPC). Completing those IPC requirements earns the CCPC. The rule says the CCPC "is continuous upon verification by the employing school district" that the teacher completed 15 contact hours of professional development per school year. That works out to one college credit hour a year, or the equivalent in workshops or micro-credentials. Applicants with a doctorate are not eligible to advance to the CCPC level.
A CCPC holder is exempt from the yearly 15 hours if the teacher has a local professional development plan in place with the school and at least two of the following:
- ten years of state-approved teaching experience;
- a master's degree from an accredited college or university;
- National Board certification.
Teachers returning after time outside a school setting renew by applying. They must also either complete a plan for 24 contact hours of professional development within six months before or after returning, or complete a two- or three-semester-hour course relevant to their growth as an educator. The local district and the teacher file the renewal or upgrade request together on a department form.
Our guide to clock hours, CEUs and semester credits explains these conversions, and the license renewal hub compares Missouri with other states.
The district verifies, not the state. Your yearly 15 hours are verified by your employing district, so its records and its professional development plan are what count.
How do Missouri teachers move to a higher salary lane?
Missouri has no statewide salary schedule. RSMo 163.172 sets two floors instead: a minimum teacher's salary, and a higher minimum for full-time teachers with a master's degree and at least ten years of public school experience. The statute steps those floors up through the 2027-28 school year. From 2028-29 they adjust each year with inflation, but only when the January consumer price index shows at least a one percent rise, and never by more than three percent. The State Board publishes the new minimums each February, and they take effect July 1.
Two details in the statute matter for lane planning:
- What "salary" means. The law defines it as the figure on the teacher's contract, "as determined by the local school district's basic salary schedule." Pay for extra duties is excluded.
- State help for districts. A Teacher Baseline Salary Grant program lets districts apply for appropriated funds to help reach the minimums.
Everything above the floor, including how many columns exist and what moves a teacher between them, is set locally. That means the credit rules differ from district to district. Some schedules, such as North Kansas City's, combine certificate levels with credit columns. Others, such as Springfield's, use degree-based columns with one post-master's lane. See how lane changes work and which units count for the general mechanics.
What do some of the largest Missouri districts require?
Springfield Public Schools
Read the full Springfield guide →
The 2026-27 certified salary schedule, approved by the board on September 22, 2026, uses degree columns and a single post-master's lane. It covers a 182-day contract plus three holidays.
- Lanes: Bachelor's, Master's, Master's +30 or Specialist, Doctorate; 30 steps, with the Bachelor's column capped after step 20.
- What counts: the 30 hours must be started after the master's and be in the area of certification or related to the assignment.
- Deadline: advanced-degree transcripts by August 25 for the first September payroll; August 26 to September 15 on a later payroll; after September 15, processed in January.
- Fall graduates: file by January 15 for a prorated increase.
North Kansas City Schools
The 2026-27 teacher salary schedule, board approved April 28, 2026, ties its early columns to Missouri's IPC years and its later columns to graduate hours past the master's.
- Lanes: ten columns from BA (or Year 1) through MA+8 (or CCPC), then MA+16, MA+24, MA+32, MA+40 or Specialist, and MA+48 or Specialist+8 or Doctorate; steps 01 to 22.
- What counts: approved graduate hours and completed district professional growth hours; credits earned before or with a degree do not count past the degree awarded.
- Deadline: official transcripts "by September 15 and February 5" for column movement.
- Note: the schedule states that steps "do not necessarily correlate with years of experience."
The two districts take different approaches. Springfield has one post-master's lane at 30 hours, while North Kansas City adds a new column every eight hours past the master's and accepts its own professional growth hours. Ask your district which hours it will accept before you enroll.
Step placement also follows local rules. Springfield credits up to 15 years of prior teaching experience, placing a new hire no higher than step 16, and counts only experience within the previous 20 years. North Kansas City's schedule says its steps do not necessarily match years of experience, so read your placement letter rather than counting years. In both districts, a degree or block of hours earned before a column's starting point does not carry forward past the degree it produced.
Full district guides for Missouri
Before you enroll
- Check your classification. Know whether you hold an IPC (four years) or a CCPC, and whether you qualify for the CCPC exemption from the yearly 15 hours.
- Decide what the course is for. Fifteen contact hours a year keeps a CCPC current; a salary column needs hours your district accepts. Our renewal versus salary credit guide compares the two.
- Read your district's column rules. Check whether hours must be graduate-level credit earned after your degree and tied to your certification area or assignment.
- Get approval where the district asks for it. Professional growth hours and course approvals follow district procedures, and the district decides what counts.
- Calendar the transcript deadline. Springfield's main date is August 25; North Kansas City's are September 15 and February 5. Missing one can delay a raise by months.
The provider directory groups semester-credit providers by need, and the comparison table shows their costs and formats side by side.
Missouri questions teachers ask
How many PD hours do Missouri teachers need each year?
A CCPC holder needs 15 contact hours of professional development per school year, verified by the employing district, unless the teacher qualifies for the exemption.
How many contact hours is one college credit in Missouri?
One hour of college credit equals 15 contact hours under 5 CSR 20-400.260. So does one professional micro-credential.
Who is exempt from the 15-hour requirement?
A CCPC holder with a local professional development plan and at least two of these: ten years of approved experience, a master's degree from an accredited institution, or National Board certification.
Does Missouri have a state teacher salary schedule?
No. State law sets minimum salaries, and each district's basic salary schedule sets the columns and steps above them.
Can a teacher with a doctorate reach the CCPC level?
No. 5 CSR 20-400.260 says doctoral applicants are ineligible to advance to the CCPC level.
When are Missouri lane-change transcripts due?
It depends on the district. North Kansas City lists September 15 and February 5. Springfield uses August 25 for the first September payroll, with later dates handled on later payrolls.
Sources
- 5 CSR 20-400, including 5 CSR 20-400.260, Missouri Secretary of State, Code of State Regulations. Checked
- RSMo 163.172, Minimum teacher's salary, Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Checked
- Salary schedules, Springfield Public Schools. Checked
- 2026-27 certified salary schedule, Springfield Public Schools. Checked
- Benefits and salary, North Kansas City Schools. Checked
- 2026-27 Teacher Salary Schedule, North Kansas City Schools. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error