GENERAL INFORMATION
Revised November, 2006

Bureau of Educator Certification

Florida Department of Education
Bureau of Educator Certification
325 West Gaines Street, Room 201  
Tallahassee, FL   32399-0400  
1-800-445-6739 (in-state calls)  
(850) 488-2317 (out-of-state calls)  
www.fldoe.org (go to Educator Certification) OR www.fldoe.org/edcert

USF Service Area School District Contacts  (These are just suggested contacts and are subject to change.)

Citrus - Elaine Feigel, (352) 726-1931
               www.Citrus.k12.fl.us
DeSoto - Kitty Coleman, (941) 494-4222 ext. 164
               www.Desotoschools.com
Hardee - Sue Nedza, (941) 773-9058  
                 David Durastanti, (941) 773-9058  
                 Gary Moore, (941) 773-9058
                  www.Hardee.k12.fl.usf
Hernando - Sonia Rivera, (352) 797-7070 ext. 419
                    www.Hcsb.k12.fl.us
Highlands - Vivianne Waldron, (863) 471-5733
                        www.Highlands.k12.fl.us
Hillsborough - Quincenia Bell, Teacher Recruiter, (813) 273-7518  
                            Karen Davis, (813) 273-7556
                            www.sdhc.k12.fl.us
Manatee - Rebecca Wells, (941) 741-7754
                     www.Manatee.k12.fl.us
Pasco – Terry Aunchman, (813) 794-2349
                www.Pasco.k12.fl.us
Pinellas - Linda Sanguinette, (727) 586-1818 ext. 1928  
                 www.Pinellas.k12.fl.us
Polk - Donna Wingard, (863) 519-3631
            Lois Schuck, (863) 534-0743
               www.Pcsb.k12.fl.us
Sarasota - Mary Cournoyer, (941) 927-9000 ext. 31206
                    www.Sarasota.k12.fl.us
Sumter – Bill Spell, (352) 793-4963
                 www.Sumter.k12.fl.us

If you hold a foreign degree:

Please refer to the State’s website for Applicants with Foreign Academic Training at: http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/foreign.asp

The University of South Florida does NOT provide credential evaluation service for certification purposes.  The University of Miami does (umevals@miami.edu - (305) 284-8449).  There are also a number of private agencies that provide this service.  Just two of the many agencies are Josef Silny & Associates in Coral Gables, FL (http://www.jsilny.com - (305) 273-1616) and World Education Services in New York (http://www.wes.org - (212) 966-6311).

If you have an out-of-state certificate:

You need to contact the school district(s) in which you are hoping to teach or the Bureau of Educator Certification but generally if you hold a valid (not expired/revoked) "standard" certificate (not temporary/provisional), you should be eligible for a five-year professional certificate in Florida for similar coverage.

If your certificate is temporary/provisional or has expired, your transcripts will need to be evaluated to determine if you are eligible to be hired and apply for a temporary certificate in Florida.  Go to the State’s site on certification and follow the Steps to Certification or contact your local school district.

The Bureau's web site addresses this in more detail at:  www.fldoe.org/edcert/level1.asp

Answers to often-asked questions:

• In most cases, you are not eligible to receive a Florida teaching certificate until you are hired/fingerprinted to teach in a Florida public or state-accredited private school.  If you apply to the State for certification and never complete the requirements (including being hired/fingerprinted) outlined in the Statement of Status of Eligibility you will receive from the Bureau of Educator Certification in Tallahassee when you apply, all you ever will receive is that Statement of Status of Eligibility.  It is NOT a teaching certificate! 
• Just having a degree does not always make you eligible to be hired.  You must satisfy the specialization (content) requirement for one of the current certification coverages.  If you want to teach out of your specialization area, you should contact your district about the possibility of being hired  "out-of-field."  Although there can be exceptions, this is usually only done in critical shortage areas (for which there is a shortage of teachers.) 
• It is recommended that instead of just obtaining requirements for certification by mail or from a web site, you should contact the school district(s) in which you are hoping to teach to determine the need for teachers in your area of interest/expertise.  There are several areas for which there is limited need at this time, regardless of the amount of press regarding the need for teachers.  These areas can vary by school district, so contact your district.
• There are some certification areas for which many principals in the USF service area will generally not hire based on just passing scores on the appropriate FTCE Subject Area Exam.   They continue to look for applicants with appropriate course work/training.  These include elementary education (grades K-6) and prek/primary (age 3 to grade 3) because these are areas for which teachers are responsible for the children’s entire curriculum.  Some districts have policies against hiring those who only have passing scores on an exam and not the appropriate course work/training.  These are subject to change, so contact your district.

• Because it generally takes at least 30 days after a completed Application for Florida Educator's Certificate reaches Tallahassee for it to be processed/evaluated, if you feel you meet specialization (subject) requirements, either by degree, satisfying course-by-course requirements, passing the appropriate Subject Area subtest of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam (when appropriate), having an NBPTS or appropriate ABCTE certificate, or an acceptable out-of-state teaching certificate, or two semesters of approved college teaching, it is recommended that you contact the district(s) of your choice and apply for a teaching position.  All districts have staff trained to determine if you are eligible.  They can assist you with the application process.

• If you have received from Tallahassee a Statement of Status of Eligibility and are trying to determine which USF courses will meet specific course requirements your Statement indicates you need, if you need courses to satisfy Specialization Requirements for your temporary certificate, go to our web site and look under Florida Certification Coverages for the area for which you applied.  If you need to meet Professional Preparation Requirements for your professional certificate, go to our web site and look at the Professional Preparation Courses/Practical Teaching Experience document.

• The current critical shortage areas for which USF has programs/courses are: special education, math, science, ESOL, foreign languages, speech/language impaired, industrial arts/technology education, reading and school psychology.  These are subject to change each year.  Go to www.firn.edu/doe/bin00065/splist.htm for information on possible financial assistance for those seeking degrees/certification in these areas.

• There are no exemptions/waivers from passing all portions of the General Knowledge Test (unless you:  passed the CLAST exam prior to July 1, 2002, hold a valid standard out-of-state teaching certificate, an NBPTS or ABCTE certificate or have two semesters of full-time approved college teaching.  Visit the state's web site or contact your district for more specific information on out-of-state certificates.) 

• University/college teaching of a course needed for certification can count to meet that course requirement for certification.  Tallahassee will need a letter signed by the department chair and registrar at the institution where you taught the course stating the course number, title, number of credit hours and when it was taught.  This can generally also count to renew a certificate.

• State certificates are only required for grades PK-12.  Junior colleges and universities do not require state certification.  Each post-secondary institution has its own hiring criteria.

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Revised: 11/29/06