Indiana School Psychologist Requirements at a Glance

What Can Count Toward an Indiana PGP?

Indiana describes the PGP broadly. Educators may earn points through qualifying professional growth activities in addition to their normal job responsibilities.

Examples identified by IDOE include:

Who Approves the PGP?

The verification process depends on whether the school psychologist is currently working in an Indiana school.

Professional Development Documentation

Indiana accepts documentation such as certificates, official transcripts, or verification letters showing the activity and the number of hours or PGP points earned.

Educators who are not employed by an Indiana school must upload documentation for each PGP entry when the plan is submitted for verification.

How Indiana School Psychologists Report PGP Points

Professional Growth Plans are created and submitted through Indiana's Licensing Verification and Information System (LVIS).

For a normal renewal, the school psychologist creates a 90-point PGP, enters each qualifying activity, its date, number of hours, and a brief description, and then submits the completed plan for verification.

Can College Coursework Be Used Instead?

Yes. Indiana also offers a coursework pathway for renewal.

Indiana's professionalize-and-renew guidance lists six semester hours completed at an accredited Indiana or out-of-state institution as an alternative renewal route.

For school services personnel, graduate coursework is strongly encouraged.

CPR and AED Certification

Indiana requires a valid CPR and AED certification from an IDOE-approved provider as part of the renewal application.

This requirement is separate from the 90 PGP points and should not be overlooked when preparing a renewal application.

Child Abuse and Neglect Training

Indiana also requires child abuse and neglect training for educator-license renewal.

Documentation of this training is included among the required renewal materials listed by the Indiana Department of Education.

Indiana School Psychologist Licensing Structure

Indiana classifies school psychologists within the School Services licensing category.

The Indiana Department of Education states that a school psychologist must hold a master's degree or higher in school psychology from an approved school psychology program.

School psychologists may initially work under an Initial Practitioner License. After satisfying Indiana's residency and experience requirements, an eligible school psychologist may move to the Practitioner level.

Five-Year vs. Ten-Year School Services License

Indiana provides both Practitioner and Accomplished Practitioner licenses.

Indiana currently requires the same 90-point PGP for normal renewal of either an eligible five-year or ten-year license. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="1"}

Professionalizing a School Psychologist License

Indiana school psychologists holding a five-year Practitioner license may be eligible to professionalize to a ten-year Accomplished Practitioner license.

IDOE states that school psychologists generally need:

Professionalizing the license also renews it, so the applicant must complete an accepted renewal requirement such as the PGP or qualifying coursework. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="2"}

Can Online Continuing Education Count in Indiana?

Yes, an online professional development course may potentially be used within an Indiana Professional Growth Plan when it is accepted as a qualifying professional growth activity and properly documented.

Indiana focuses on the professional-development activity and its verification rather than requiring every qualifying activity to come from one statewide provider list.

Do NASP-Approved Courses Count in Indiana?

NASP-approved professional development is directly applicable to maintaining the NCSP.

For Indiana School Services license renewal, the PGP system allows a variety of professional growth activities. An outside NASP-approved course may potentially be entered as professional development in the PGP when the activity is relevant and accepted by the appropriate Indiana verifying authority.

NASP Approval vs. Indiana PGP Approval

It is useful to keep these two concepts separate:

What About the NCSP?

The Nationally Certified School Psychologist credential is separate from Indiana's School Services license.

Indiana's current renewal pages do not identify a current NCSP as a substitute for the 90-point PGP in the same way that states such as Illinois, Idaho, or Georgia expressly recognize national certification as a state renewal pathway.

Therefore, Indiana school psychologists maintaining both credentials should separately track:

When Should an Indiana License Be Renewed?

Indiana advises educators not to submit a renewal application more than 45 days before the current license expiration date.

The issue date of the renewed license is based on the date the applicant pays for the renewal application. Applying too early can therefore shorten the remaining validity of the current license.

If renewal requirements are not completed before expiration, Indiana states that there is no licensing penalty imposed by the Educator Licensing office, but the license will not be renewed until the requirements have been completed. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="3"}

Indiana School Psychologist Renewal Options Compared