FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
S
TATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
DR. AKSHAY DESAI
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
John L. Winn
Commissioner of Education
February 22, 2007
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
School District Superintendents, State College and University Presidents, and
Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF)
FROM:
John L. Winn
SUBJECT:
Recommended Changes to Florida Teacher Certification Examinations and the Florida
Educational Leadership Examination
This memorandum is to inform you of the recommended changes to State Board of Education Rule
6A-4.0021, Florida Administrative Code (FAC), Florida Teacher Certification Examinations. The
changes relate to the revision of the required teacher competencies and skills and the respective
examinations. The Department of Education has completed the rule development process and plans
to present its recommendations to the State Board of Education for approval.
In addition, information relating to the revision of the competencies and skills for the Florida
Educational Leadership Examination is provided for your planning purposes.
Proposed Recommendations Resulting from Review of Teacher Certification Examinations
Over the past 16 years, the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) have been reviewed
and revised at designated intervals. This standard practice ensures that the content assessed is current
and reflects the most recent research findings. According to the latest review, we anticipate revised
examinations based on the updated competencies and skills for the following seven FTCE subject
areas, effective July 2007:
•
Computer Science K-12
•
Humanities K-12
•
Latin K-12
•
Visually Impaired K-12
•
Hearing Impaired K-12
•
Journalism 6-12
•
Educational Media Specialist PK-12
325 W. GAINES STREET • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org
Memorandum
February 22, 2007
Page Two
Please refer to Table 1 below for review of the proposed changes to the competencies and skills and
their potential impact to these subject areas.
Table 1. Recommended Changes to the Competencies and Skills for Seven FTCE Subject Areas
Number of
Competencies
Potential Impact to Subject Areas due to Proposed Changes
FTCE
Subject
Area
11
th
Edition
current
12
th
Edition
proposed
Recommendations Made by Subject Matter Experts
Computer
Science
K-12
8
9
Refine the existing skills to reflect current research and terminology in computer
science with specific emphasis placed on knowledge of computer networking and
knowledge of the social, environmental, ethical, and legal issues of computer
technologies.
Humanities
K-12
6
6
Reduce the number of existing skills across all competencies; primary example is
Competency 5 (Knowledge of prominent aesthetic principles used by major cultures
in evaluating the arts) which eliminated six of seven skills and added one new skill
emphasizing ways in which different aesthetic principles are manifested in
significant works of musical, visual, literary, and performing arts; most other
refinements to skills involved updates reflecting current thought and professional
standards.
Latin
K-12
14
12
Reorganize and refine competencies to improve upon testing of an examinee’s
content knowledge regarding methods for teaching, analyzing structure, selecting
methods for teaching reading comprehension and analysis, and selecting appropriate
reference materials and instructional aids for teaching mythology and political,
social, and literary history; overall, this resulted in the elimination of two
competencies, and the skills for these two competencies were subsumed into
Competency 5 (Knowledge of pedagogical methods, reference materials, and
teaching aids appropriate to the Latin classroom).
Visually
Impaired
K-12
11
10
Refine skill statements to improve testing of an examinee’s content knowledge of
specialized learning and literacy media, medical aspects of visual impairments, and
knowledge of philosophical, historical, and legal foundations; other refinements
focused on enhancement to existing competencies by adding specific content
principles such as collaborative approaches, instructional strategies and
accommodations, expanded core curriculum, specialized assistive devices and
technology, assessment, evaluation, and diagnostic procedures.
Hearing
Impaired
K-12
13
14
Expand testing of an examinee’s content knowledge to include transitional services
for students who are deaf or hard of hearing; other refinements to skills focused on
updating language to reflect current standards (e.g., identify current curricula and
research-based strategies for academic instruction used with students who are deaf or
hard of hearing; identify measurable annual IEP, IFSP, and TIEP goals).
Journalism
6-12
11
10
Increase testing of an examinee’s knowledge regarding the history of journalism, law
and ethics, news judgment, news-gathering skills, staff management and media
production, and business management and advertising; other refinements across
competencies focused on updating of language to conform to current professional
standards.
Educational
Media
Specialist
PK-12
25
25
Expand testing of an examinee’s content knowledge with concentration in
knowledge of methods for providing equity and diversity in the school library media
program, methods for integrating technology, reading research and strategies,
policies and processes for managing, cataloging, organizing, circulating, and
maintaining resources, and methods for teaching students information literacy; other
refinements to skills across competencies focused on updating language to reflect
current professional standards and practices.
Memorandum
February 22, 2007
Page Three
Proposed Recommendations to the Florida Educational Leadership Examination
Beginning in June 2005, committee members consisting of university professors and school district
and building administrators were tasked to develop and refine the Florida Educational Leadership
Examination (FELE) competencies and skills as guided by State Board of Education Rule 6B-5.012,
FAC, Principal Leadership Standards. Because these revision activities have resulted in
recommendations that significantly change the content, the Department has published a draft copy of
the
Competencies and Skills Required for Certification in Educational Leadership in Florida
on its
Web site (http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/fele/felecomp.htm). By publishing this draft copy, it is
intended that the colleges of education of public and private universities will be given advanced
planning time to implement the changes needed to prepare their students to pass the revised FELE
examination upon State Board of Education approval of the revised competencies and skills.
If the revised competencies and skills are approved, the revised FELE examination will include a
performance assessment requiring writing and interpreting school data for a specified audience (e.g.,
parents, staff) scored by trained raters who are experienced school administrators, rather than
specialists in English and composition. All examinees seeking educational leadership certification
will be required to take and pass the revised examination beginning July 2008. Any examinee who
took the FELE prior to this date and passed only one or two subtests, but not all three subtests, should
be informed that they will be required to take and pass the revised FELE examination in its entirety.
Please ensure that all appropriate individuals understand the recommended changes and the potential
implications of these changes for your institution. I hope this information will be helpful to you as a
partner in maintaining a highly-qualified teacher and school administrator workforce for the state of
Florida.
JLW/CO:mj/jm
CC: Deans, College of Education
School District Certification Contacts
Jeanine Blomberg
David Armstrong
Cheri Yecke
Jay Pfeiffer
Betty Blue
Lavan Dukes
Beverly Gregory
Kathy Hebda
Michael Jones
Evan Lefsky
Bambi Lockman
Cornelia Orr
Henry Pollock
Mark Rosenberg
Pam Stewart
Joe Torgesen
