The Florida Center for Reading Research, in collaboration with the Florida Department of Education, has developed the Reading Foundations and Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Pathway. The coursework includes five competencies to support educators in earning the Florida Reading Endorsement. The Reading Foundations and Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Pathway is comprehensive and intended to be completed in its entirety to successfully earn the Florida Reading Endorsement. The content is designed to be delivered face-to-face by a trained facilitator. Florida teachers who want to add a reading endorsement to their credentials through this reading endorsement pathway must contact their district's main professional learning contact to find out if their district offers this option. If your district does not offer this option, then contact the Just Read Florida! Office at the Florida Department of Education or The Florida Center for Reading Research at fcrr@fcrr.org to find out more information about how to participate in the program.
Click here for more information about all options available for educators to earn the Florida Reading Endorsement.
Courses
Access to the materials and resources for the Reading Foundations and Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Pathway program for earning the Florida K-12 Reading Endorsement is available only with permission from the Florida Department of Education or the Florida Center for Reading Research. If permission is granted, users may only access and use the materials as long as modifications are not made, the materials will only be used for non-profit educational purposes, and the copyright belong jointly to the Florida Department of Education and the Florida Center for Reading Research. These materials may not be used for any commercial purposes. These materials on our site may be linked to but not reposted, reproduced, modified, or copied to other sites. For questions about the use of these materials, please contact The Florida Center for Reading Research at fcrr@fcrr.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Just Read, Florida! office spearheaded the effort to revise the K-12 Reading Endorsement in 2011 to incorporate new research conducted since the National Reading Panel Report. Dr. Barbara Foorman (director emeritus of the Florida Center for Reading Research), Dr. Timothy Shanahan, and Dr. Janice Dole served as framers and reviewers for this project. These experts delineated the content of new research and provided the framework for a team of writers representing various locations in Florida and populations impacted by the Reading Endorsement (ESE, ELL, higher education, etc.). The writers collaborated to develop the new endorsement, which was approved by the State Board of Education in September 2011. In the fall of 2019, new pathways were identified for educators to obtain the K-12 Reading Endorsement. Click here for more information about the endorsement at the Florida Department of Education.
The Reading Endorsement is a rider on top of a valid Florida teaching certificate to denote additional training in reading instruction. The endorsement is not a certificate and cannot stand alone. Currently, the Reading Endorsement does not require a subject area exam, while Reading Certification requires a subject area exam. Teachers do not require both a reading endorsement and reading certification. However, for some teachers, either the Reading Endorsement or Reading Certification must be added to a teacher’s Florida teaching certificate in order to be compliant with state mandates.
This pathway includes five courses to support educators in earning the Florida Reading Endorsement. The courses, organized into five competencies, are designed to be delivered in-person by FDOE certified trainers in school districts. This pathway is comprehensive and intended to be completed in its entirety.
The Florida Reading Endorsement Program consists of five courses. The content in the courses is based upon decades of scientifically based research on the development of critical reading and reading-related skills, including oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and composition. The courses also focus on the application of this research to instruction, assessment, and differentiation for all learners, including students who are multilingual or emerging bilingual and students with disabilities like reading disabilities and dyslexia. The five courses address the following competencies:
- Competency 1 – Foundations of Reading Instruction
- Competency 2 – Application of Research-Based Instructional Practices
- Competency 3 – Foundations of Assessment
- Competency 4 – Foundations and Applications of Differentiated Instruction
- Competency 5 – Demonstrating Accomplishment (culminating practicum)
In Florida, two state statutes require teachers to be endorsed or certified. Both statutes include Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teachers and English as a Second Language (ESOL) teachers. Both statutes went into effect in 2020.
- State Statute (s.1011.62(9)(c)7.(d)1 F.S.): requires any K-12 teacher who provides intensive reading intervention (e.g., teachers providing Tier 3 instruction in a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) model as defined by the district’s K-12 Comprehensive Reading Plan) to be reading endorsed or certified.
- State Statute (s. 1008.25(7)(b)3 F.S.): requires that any teacher who is teaching reading to retained third graders, including summer camp students, to be reading endorsed or certified.
In addition, teachers who teach any grade 7-12 state-coded reading course must be reading endorsed or certified.
Teachers who hold an elementary education bachelors degree may be exempt from one or more of the required courses based upon their college coursework.
Teachers should visit the Florida Department of Education website to apply to add on the Reading Endorsement to their Florida teaching certificate. The department will evaluate college transcript(s) and provide a Status of Eligibility letter indicating what courses are required to add on the endorsement.
No, FCRR does not offer the Reading Endorsement. FCRR developed these courses to support districts in Florida that choose to offer the Reading Foundations and Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Pathway for their currently employed teachers. Teachers who are currently employed in a Florida school district and seeking to add the Reading Endorsement to their certificate should contact their district's main professional learning contact for more information. Teachers who are not currently employed in a Florida school district should contact the Florida Department of Education for more information. Teachers who are interested in earning a Reading Endorsement at Florida State University should contact the School of Teacher Education.
...my required courses, credit for courses already taken, registering for courses, when courses are offered, where courses are offered, costs for courses, applying for the endorsement, other pathways to certification or endorsement, and employment?
Teachers who are currently employed in a Florida school district and seeking to add the Reading Endorsement to their certificate should contact their district's main professional learning contact for more information. Teachers who are not currently employed in a Florida school district should contact the Florida Department of Education for more information.
