FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
S
TATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
John L. Winn
Commissioner of Education
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE:
March 15, 2006
TO:
District Superintendents, University Presidents, Community College Presidents, and
Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF)
FROM:
John L. Winn
SUBJECT:
Notification of Changes to the Teacher Certification Examinations
This memorandum is to inform you of changes in the competencies and skills for some of the Florida
Teacher Certification Examinations. The changes will be presented in the form of an amendment to
State Board Rule 6A-4.0021.
Changes resulting from regular reviews
Periodically, the Department of Education, in consultation with teachers and faculty from colleges of
education and district specialists, reviews and updates competencies and skills for the Florida
Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE). This process has been conducted every one to three
years for the past 16 years.
The changes proposed in this rule revision have resulted from such reviews and are included in the
eleventh edition of
Competencies and Skills Required for Teacher Certification in Florida
(to be
adopted). The amendment proposes implementation of changes as follows:
Effective July 22, 2006, implementation of updated competencies and skills for ten FTCE
subject area examinations:
•
Agriculture 6-12
•
ESOL K-12
•
Middle Grades English 5-9
•
Middle Grades General Science 5-9
•
Middle Grades Mathematics 5-9
•
Middle Grades Social Science 5-9
325 W. GAINES STREET • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org
District Superintendents, et al.
March 15, 2006
Page 2
•
Technology Education 6-12 (formerly Industrial Arts/Technology Education 6-
12)
•
School Psychologist PK-12
•
Speech 6-12, and Speech Language Impaired K-12
FTCE tests administered on July 22, 2006, will reflect the changes.
Changes resulting from reading initiatives
In accord with recommendations by Just Read, Florida! and the Florida Center for Reading Research,
changes will be implemented in competencies and skills for the Professional Education Test and
three FTCE subject area examinations: Elementary Education K-6, Pre-kindergarten/Primary PK-3,
and Reading K-12.
As stated in my memorandum of July 19, 2005, changes to these competencies and skills involve the
ways teachers of reading and language arts teach reading and language arts. As a result, these four
examinations were revised ahead of the normally scheduled times for updates and will be ready for
administration on October 21, 2006.
Summary
Committees of teachers, professors, district specialists, and school district administrators have
reviewed and updated the competencies and skills for:
•
Ten (10) subject area examinations—effective July 22, 2006
•
The Professional Education Test—effective October 21, 2006
•
Three (3) subject area examinations related to reading initiatives, Reading K-12,
Elementary Education K-6, and Pre-kindergarten/Primary PK-3—effective October 21,
2006.
This notification is not required by statute or rule, but is provided as a courtesy to keep you informed.
I hope the information is helpful to you as a partner in maintaining a qualified teacher workforce for
the state of Florida.
JLW/CO/cas
cc: David Armstrong
Betty Blue
Beverly Gregory
Michael Jones
Cornelia Orr
Mark Rosenberg
Pam Stewart
Cheri Yecke
Deans, College of Education
School District Certification Contacts
