Florida Senate - 2023 SB 808 By Senator Powell 24-01338-23 2023808__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to educator certifications; amending 3 s. 1012.55, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes 4 made by the act; amending s. 1012.56, F.S.; providing 5 that individuals who meet specified requirements have 6 met certain educator certification requirements; 7 revising the number of years for which certain 8 temporary educator certificates are valid; providing 9 an effective date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1.Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 14 1012.55, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 15 1012.55Positions for which certificates required. 16 (1) 17 (e)1.The department shall issue a 5-year 3-year temporary 18 certificate in educational leadership under s. 1012.56(7) to an 19 individual who: 20 a.Earned a passing score on the Florida Educational 21 Leadership Examination. 22 b.Served as a commissioned or noncommissioned military 23 officer in the United States Armed Forces for at least 3 years. 24 c.Was honorably discharged or has retired from the United 25 States Armed Forces. 26 d.Is employed full time in a position for which an 27 educator certificate is required in a Florida public school, 28 state-supported school, or nonpublic school that has a Level II 29 program under s. 1012.562. 30 2.A Level II program under s. 1012.562 must accept an 31 applicant who holds a temporary certificate under subparagraph 32 1. The department shall issue a permanent certification as a 33 school principal to an individual who holds a temporary 34 certificate under subparagraph 1. and successfully completes the 35 Level II program. 36 Section 2.Subsections (3) and (5) and paragraphs (c) and 37 (e) of subsection (7) of section 1012.56, Florida Statutes, are 38 amended to read: 39 1012.56Educator certification requirements. 40 (3)MASTERY OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.Acceptable means of 41 demonstrating mastery of general knowledge are: 42 (a)Achievement of passing scores on the general knowledge 43 examination required by state board rule; 44 (b)Documentation of a valid professional standard teaching 45 certificate issued by another state; 46 (c)Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 47 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 48 educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 49 Education; 50 (d)Documentation of two semesters of successful, full-time 51 or part-time teaching in a Florida College System institution, 52 state university, or private college or university that awards 53 an associate or higher degree and is an accredited institution 54 or an institution of higher education identified by the 55 Department of Education as having a quality program; 56 (e)Achievement of passing scores, identified in state 57 board rule, on national or international examinations that test 58 comparable content and relevant standards in verbal, analytical 59 writing, and quantitative reasoning skills, including, but not 60 limited to, the verbal, analytical writing, and quantitative 61 reasoning portions of the Graduate Record Examination. Passing 62 scores identified in state board rule must be at approximately 63 the same level of rigor as is required to pass the general 64 knowledge examinations; or 65 (f)Documentation of receipt of a masters or higher degree 66 from an accredited postsecondary educational institution that 67 the Department of Education has identified as having a quality 68 program resulting in a baccalaureate degree or higher. 69 70 An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 71 has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s. 72 1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 73 earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 74 evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 75 school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 76 met the requirements of this subsection. A school district that 77 employs an individual who does not achieve passing scores on any 78 subtest of the general knowledge examination must provide 79 information regarding the availability of state-level and 80 district-level supports and instruction to assist him or her in 81 achieving a passing score. Such information must include, but 82 need not be limited to, state-level test information guides, 83 school district test preparation resources, and preparation 84 courses offered by state universities and Florida College System 85 institutions. 86 (5)MASTERY OF SUBJECT AREA KNOWLEDGE.Acceptable means of 87 demonstrating mastery of subject area knowledge are: 88 (a)For a subject requiring only a baccalaureate degree for 89 which a Florida subject area examination has been developed, 90 achievement of a passing score on the Florida-developed subject 91 area examination specified in state board rule; 92 (b)For a subject for which a Florida subject area 93 examination has not been developed, achievement of a passing 94 score on a standardized examination specified in state board 95 rule, including, but not limited to, passing scores on both the 96 oral proficiency and written proficiency examinations 97 administered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign 98 Languages; 99 (c)For a subject for which a Florida subject area 100 examination has not been developed or a standardized examination 101 has not been specified in state board rule, completion of the 102 subject area specialization requirements specified in state 103 board rule and verification of the attainment of the essential 104 subject matter competencies by the district school 105 superintendent of the employing school district or chief 106 administrative officer of the employing state-supported or 107 private school; 108 (d)For a subject requiring a masters or higher degree, 109 completion of the subject area specialization requirements 110 specified in state board rule and achievement of a passing score 111 on the Florida-developed subject area examination or a 112 standardized examination specified in state board rule; 113 (e)Documentation of a valid professional standard teaching 114 certificate issued by another state; 115 (f)Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 116 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 117 educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 118 Education; 119 (g)Documentation of successful completion of a United 120 States Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center 121 program; or 122 (h)Documentation of a passing score on the Defense 123 Language Proficiency Test (DLPT). 124 125 An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 126 has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s. 127 1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 128 earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 129 evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 130 school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 131 met the requirements of this subsection. School districts are 132 encouraged to provide mechanisms for middle grades teachers 133 holding only a K-6 teaching certificate to obtain a subject area 134 coverage for middle grades through postsecondary coursework or 135 district add-on certification. 136 (7)TYPES AND TERMS OF CERTIFICATION. 137 (c)The department shall issue one nonrenewable 5-year 2 138 year temporary certificate and one nonrenewable 5-year 139 professional certificate to a qualified applicant who holds a 140 bachelors degree in the area of speech-language impairment to 141 allow for completion of a masters degree program in speech 142 language impairment. 143 (e)1.A temporary certificate issued under subparagraph 144 (b)1. is valid for 3 school fiscal years and is nonrenewable. 145 2.A temporary certificate issued under paragraph (b) 146 subparagraph (b)2. is valid for 5 school fiscal years, is 147 limited to a one-time issuance, and is nonrenewable. 148 149 At least 1 year before an individuals temporary certificate is 150 set to expire, the department shall electronically notify the 151 individual of the date on which his or her certificate will 152 expire and provide a list of each method by which the 153 qualifications for a professional certificate can be completed. 154 The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to allow the 155 department to extend the validity period of a temporary 156 certificate for 2 years when the requirements for the 157 professional certificate were not completed due to the serious 158 illness or injury of the applicant, the military service of an 159 applicants spouse, other extraordinary extenuating 160 circumstances, or if the certificateholder is rated highly 161 effective in the immediate prior years performance evaluation 162 pursuant to s. 1012.34 or has completed a 2-year mentorship 163 program pursuant to subsection (8). The department shall extend 164 the temporary certificate upon approval by the Commissioner of 165 Education. A written request for extension of the certificate 166 shall be submitted by the district school superintendent, the 167 governing authority of a university lab school, the governing 168 authority of a state-supported school, or the governing 169 authority of a private school. 170 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.