State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs)
State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH) are earned by attending professional development activities approved by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). These hours can be used for renewal of certificates and licenses issued by the MDE, Office of Professional Preparation Services.
Process to offer SCECHs
Note: Submit files to Kimberly Dutcher, SCECH Coordinator, 315 Armory Place, Sault Sainte Marie MI 49783
Complete and submit a Program Application and agenda no less than 45 days prior to the start of the program. Applications must be in the system 30 calendar days prior to the start date, or the application will automatically be rejected by the MDE.
Program agendas must contain the following:
- Title of the offering matching the Program Title on the program application
- Date(s) of the program
- Clearly defined timeframes for each section, including meals and breaks
- Breaks are not required to follow any specific requirements. However, participants may still only earn SCECH for the actual time used for instruction; this does not include breaks from instruction or non-instructional activities.
- Clearly marked calculations for the number of contact hours and SCECHs requested
The number of SCECHs is the instructional time. The following do not count as instructional time.
- Welcome, introduction of speaker, housekeeping issues
- Breaks and meals
- Homework/Individual activities
- Preparation time for offerings
- Registration of participants
- Orientation of staff personnel
- Non-instructional committee meetings
- Conferences or assemblies for policy-making purposes and business meetings of societies and associations
- Attendance at entertainment events
NEW: MDE believes taking breaks during a long meeting is beneficial, but no longer mandates specific times or time limits for breaks or lunch times during meetings. With this change, we remind educators and sponsors only time spent on learning activities can be counted in the SCECH total
The system will accept partial hours. If the agenda includes activities that total an uneven number of hours, you may include those partial hours rounding down to the nearest quarter hour. To figure out what that partial hour equals in hundredths, take the minutes over the full hours divided by 60. Example: A meeting that lasts 2 hours and 20 minutes: 20 ÷ 60 = .33 (round down to the nearest quarter hour.) That meeting would be worth 2.25 Total Contact Hours / SCECHs.
Range of Hours
MOECS defaults to a range of hours for all programs. This will allow participants to earn SCECHs for attendance at any part of a program.
Program Monitor
All SCECH face-to-face programs must have a Program Monitor present at the program to remind presenters and participants of SCECH attendance rules, execute the chosen participant attendance method, and report SCECH participant attendance to Coordinator. The Monitor may be the Coordinator, or any responsible individual familiar with attendance rules and designated method.
A Program Monitor must make sure that all participants, at every program, are explained the following:
- Participants wishing SCECHs from a program must officially register for the program through Wisdomwhere.
- When registering for SCECHs, the participants name and PIC must match their MOECS record exactly, with special attention to spaces and hyphenated names.
- Participants will receive a system generated email from MOECS after the Coordinator has uploaded the participant information.
- Participants must complete the evaluation in order to be awarded the SCECHs.
The Monitor must also:
Be present at the beginning and end of each session to monitor attendance. Please note that SCECHs cannot be awarded to participants who have not attended the entire session or program unless the Sponsor approves to offer a range of hours for that program.
Submit the following documentation to Kimberly Dutcher, SCECH Coordinator, within 15 calendar days of the program completion date, or credit could be denied or rescinded:
- The original attendance documentation required by Sponsor for that program unless required for Grant approval, then a copy is acceptable.
- The Program Monitor’s signature and date are required on each page of the attendance form(s).
- Completed SCECH Monitor Verification Form
DDPD Update
Beginning July 1, 2020, any DPPD used for recertification must be entered by the districts as State Continuing Education Credit Hours (SCECHs) into the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS). Educators will still be able to utilize the DPPD they attended prior to July 1, 2020 using the current documentation process. All district provided professional development used for certificate renewal must be earned as SCECHs starting July 1, 2020.
Districts have three options for SCECH Sponsorship – each District can be their own Sponsor, Districts can work through their ISDs/RESAs/ESAs, or 2 or more districts may create a District Consortium by working together for their programs and participant uploads.
DPPD for program applications options:
- One yearlong DPPD program including all the professional development hours the district will offer for the school year.
- Multiple DPPD programs separated by categories (EX: by content or building) that include all the professional development hours the district will offer for the school year.
- Individual programs for each half day/full day offering.
For more information here is the link to resources page: New DPPD Reporting Process Resources