DESE recognizes the critical role of teacher efficacy in student achievement. The Master Professional Educator possesses deep content knowledge and the pedagogical practices to transfer that knowledge to students and novice teachers. A teacher with a Master Professional Educator designation is one of the ways outlined in LEARNS for districts to provide targeted support for students who are not meeting academic benchmarks in math and literacy at the end of grade 3.

In addition, the Master Professional Educator designation is a licensure requirement for a teacher aspiring to be an experienced mentor teacher to three specific groups of novice teachers:

• Teachers on Aspiring Teacher Permits
• Arkansas Registered Apprentices
• Yearlong supervised residents completing state-approved Educator Preparation Programs (effective Spring 2027)

Requirements

A teacher interested in receiving the Master Professional Educator designation must complete the following:

1. Complete an approved pathway for the Master Professional Educator designation. To view approved pathways, click here.

2. Provide documentation of 3 years of licensed teaching experience. This experience may include time spent teaching with a provisional license; however, the teacher must hold a standard Arkansas teaching license to be eligible to add the designation. Teaching Experience Verification

3. Evidence of an effective or highly effective rating on TESS on the applicant’s most recent summative teacher evaluation conducted within the previous 4 years. (Educator Effectiveness no longer has access to ratings in EdReflect. The only rating that can be pulled is from the Educator Effectiveness System.)

4. Submit all documentation through the Arkansas Educator Licensure System.

For more information, please contact: