NLU Opens New Program to Mitigate Teacher Shortage
The Program Helps Florida Teachers Achieve Professional Certification
Tampa, May 11, 2023 – National Louis University offers a solution to mitigate the state-wide teacher shortage by providing temporarily certified teachers with the ability to keep their jobs while preparing them to serve as high-quality teachers meeting the needs of all Florida students. The new Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) Elementary Education Alternative and Secondary Education Alternative: Florida Educator Preparation Institute (EPI) begins in July 2023 and will be offered via live virtual classroom online to teachers across the state.
Over the course of 15 months, teacher candidates will complete the MAT degree and the state-approved EPI, the path to the Professional Educator Certificate. Added benefits include:
- Endorsement in reading
- Three semester hours in teaching English Language Learners
- Three semester hours in teaching students with special needs
- Test preparation for the three required Florida Teacher Certification Exams (FTCE)
The Florida Department of Education, in a report titled Identification of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas for 2022-23, identified thousands of teachers considered temporarily certified, a problem that has persisted over multiple years. Teachers with a temporary certificate have a definite timeframe to take specific courses and pass three certification exams to earn their Professional Educator Certificate or be removed from the teaching position.
Currently, the state of Florida allows teachers to hold a temporary certificate for five years to fulfill coursework and testing requirements. The required courses are not offered in every Florida school district, and the courses offered in-district do not offer teachers any credit towards a degree.
NLU leaders were inspired to develop this accelerated program by a principal in one of Florida’s largest school districts who stated that an NLU program that helped temporarily certified teachers earn their Professional Educator Certificate in approximately one year would be a “game-changer.”
To learn more about this opportunity, contact Pete Kramer at pkramer6@nl.edu.
