FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
�
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
F. PHILIP H ANDY,
Chairman
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T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
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Members
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LINDA J. EADS, ED.D.
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CHARLES PATRICK G ARCÍA
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JULIA L. JOHNSON
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WILLIAM L. PROCTOR , PH.D.
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LINDA K. T AYLOR
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May 7, 2004
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
District School Superintendents
FROM
:
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Mary Laura Openshaw
Director, Just Read, Florida!
RE:
Reading Endorsement Update
JIM HORNE
Commissioner of Education
We are pleased to provide an update on Florida’s Reading Endorsement Program in response to
some of your questions.
Who Needs the Endorsement? *
We still receive questions about who must earn the endorsement by June 30, 2006, in order to be
deemed highly qualified. By way of background information, the Florida Reading Endorsement
emerged as a priority due to the federal subject requirements for No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
and current scientifically based reading research. We are trying to maintain reasonable flexibility
as we align state and federal requirements.
•
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Teachers with elementary education certification (K-6 or 1-6) who teach reading to K-6
students in elementary or middle school (at appropriate grade levels) are considered
highly qualified. (See sixth grade section below.) They are also considered highly
qualified if they have certification in reading K-12, primary education K-3,
prekindergarten primary PK-3, early childhood education (at appropriate grade levels) or
the reading endorsement.
•
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Middle and high school teachers who are teaching reading courses and have reading
certification or the reading endorsement are considered highly qualified. Middle and
high school teachers who are teaching reading courses but are not certified or endorsed in
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1548 • TALLAHASSEE, FL32399-0400• (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
reading are not considered highly qualified. (For exceptions, see sixth grade section
below). They must, at a minimum, earn a reading endorsement in order to be considered
highly qualified. The courses that require certification or the endorsement are:
Reading I
1008300
Reading II
1008310
Reading III
1008330
Advanced Reading
1008320
Intensive Reading
1000410
Intensive Language Arts
1000400
The following chart summarizes the previous information in graphic format.
Elementary:
Highly
Qualified
Certification
Elementary
Education
K-6
Elementary
Education
1-6
Primary
Educatio
n
K-3
Prekindergarte
n
Primary
PK-3
Early
Childhood
Education
at
appropriate
grade
levels
Readin
g
K-12
Reading
Endorseme
nt
Secondary:
Highly
Qualified
Certification
Elementary
Education
K-6 for
middle
school 6
th
grade
reading
classes
Elementary
Education
1-6 for
middle
school 6
th
grade
reading
classes
Reading
K-12
Reading
Endorsement
•
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ESOL teachers may or may not need the reading endorsement depending on the
delivery model that the school has chosen. All LEP students should be enrolled in
reading, and if the school decides that reading instruction for LEP students will be
included in the block of time for English through ESOL, and if they are choosing to
claim weighted funding for the portion of the time that the LEP student is instructed
in reading, then the teacher would need to add the endorsement.
*The endorsement is an add-on to an existing certificate and requires 300 master
inservice points which must align to the endorsement competencies or the 15
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1402 • TALLAHASSEE, FL32399-0400• (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
semester hours of reading coursework as specified in State Board Rule 6A-
4.0292.
Sixth Grade
Many of you provided positive feedback about the paperless correspondence
regarding sixth grade teachers teaching reading in middle schools. For those who
have not seen this communication, basically 6
th grade teachers who are certified in
elementary education (K-6 or 1-6) may teach reading in middle school to 6
th grade
students, and they are not required to earn the endorsement. Some of you have asked
if an experience level is required, and the answer is no. Teachers coming straight out
of the universities may exercise this 6
th grade option. The letter dated March 26,
2004, from Chancellor Jim Warford and me indicated that experience was necessary.
New guidance allows us more latitude, and we are happy to extend this increased
flexibility to the districts.
ESE
Many have asked if ESE certification fulfills the reading highly qualified designation.
This topic is still very much under discussion due to its comple xity, and policy
decisions will be made as soon as possible.
District Add-On Plans for the Reading Endorsement
Our offices have spoken to district staff often as they have crafted District
€
Add-On Plans, and they are to be commended for the effort that has gone into this process.
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The plans are requested by June 30, 2004. To date we have approved twenty District Add-On
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Plans which can be reviewed at http://www.justreadflorida.com/educators.asp In addition,
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approximately 20 plans are moving through the final review process, so our numbers are
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growing!
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Listed below are several new opportunities that districts may wish to include in their Add-On
€
Plans.
€
ESOL
We are most happy to announce that the ESOL crosswalk is completed, and for those
teachers with the ESOL endorsement – 80 of those hours also count towards the
reading endorsement. It’s great to know that many teachers in Florida have a head-
start on the reading endorsement!
Here is the breakout:
Competency One:
23 points out of 60
€
Competency Two:
12 points out of 60
€
Competency Three: 23 points out of 60
€
Competency Four:
12 points out of 30
€
Competency Five:
10 points out of 30
€
Competency Six
:
No points for the practicum, since this was not included in
€
the ESOL endorsement
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1402 • TALLAHASSEE, FL32399-0400• (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
Teachers who want to use these ESOL points towards the endorsement should
maintain contact with their district professional development directors to prevent
duplication of effort.
FLaRE Modules
In our ongoing commitment to offer state sponsored training towards the endorsement
at little or no cost to teachers, we are pleased to announce that the Just Read, Florida!
FLaRE modules will be available in August and will fulfill competencies four and
five. Professional Developers for the modules have been selected and trained and
will be available to offer trainings in your district in late summer. Please contact Dr.
Pat Striplin at pstripli@mail.ucf.edu if you have questions.
Banking of Points
Many of you have inquired about banking of inservice points. In essence, this means
that teachers would be able to store points if they have an excess in their validity
period, and then they could carry them over to the next validity period. This issue is
addressed in SB 2986. This bill passed on the last day of the session and is awaiting
the Governor’s signature. We will provide an update as soon as possible.
Just Read, Florida! Reading Endorsement Program
Registration is now underway for the Just Read, Florida! Reading Endorsement
Professional Development Program, a project that was contracted to and is
coordinated by Florida State University. This project has developed a comprehensive
endorsement program that aligns to all Reading Endorsement Competencies, with the
exception of the practicum. A total of four college courses may be taken in this
program. Secondary teachers teaching in grades 6-12 are given priority registration,
but other teachers may enroll if space is available. Courses that meet competencies
one and two will be offered this summer in ten cities around the state. In the fall of
2004 and the spring of 2005, the program will offer courses that fully meet
competencies three and four/five. Tuition and textbook expenses are waived, and a
stipend is provided to assist with travel and childcare. Space is extremely limited in
this program, so if interested, please register as soon as possible at
http://cerps.coe.fsu.edu/reading.htm If over time, teachers take all of these courses,
they could fulfill the endorsement requirements with the exception of the practicum.
They could therefore choose to ask for inservice credit for some or all of these
courses within their district add-on plan, or they could submit to certification for
transcript review if they have had a practicum.
Reading Subject Area Test
The reading subject area test is reflective of a master’s degree program in reading.
By law, it cannot be used as a sole vehicle for adding a coverage area. Therefore, the
only suitable candidates for taking this test are those individuals who have earned a
master’s degree in reading or who have earned the 30 semester hours specified in
State Board Rule. These teachers must pass the test to attain K-12 certification in
reading.
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1402 • TALLAHASSEE, FL32399-0400 • (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
Recency of Training
As we have spoken with many of you on the phone or at conferences, the question
has arisen about how to count the five year window of trainings and courses within
the District Add-On Plan. The purpose of the five year stipulation is to ensure that
teachers are exposed to the very latest in scientifically based reading research (SBRR)
that was established in the 1999 National Reading Panel Report and the 1998
Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Since the District Add-On Plans
that are being submitted are grounded in providing SBRR professional development
for all teachers, we feel that the five year window is somewhat moot. If teachers
complete the District Add-On Plan, they will be current and have recency of
experience. We have discussed this issue at length, opting for district discretion on
the time period, but if any of you have suggestions on how to make the five year
window requirement clearer, please contact us.
Thank you for what you do each day to serve Florida’s students! Thank you, too, for
your patience as we navigate the Reading Endorsement process. Additional updates
will follow.
Best wishes!
MLO/be
CC:
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District Reading Supervisors
District Language Arts Supervisors
Directors of Staff Development
Elementary Principals
Middle School Principals
High School Principals
Certification Specialists
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1402 • TALLAHASSEE, FL32399-0400• (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
