Teachers Assigned to Teach Out‐of‐Field PD grant Fact Sheet University of Florida Continuing Education Problem Statement: 1) Teachers are from time‐to‐time unavoidably assigned to teach out‐of‐field and in those cases students do not receive the highest quality education possible. 2) There is a one‐to‐one relationship between better prepared teachers and improved student achievement, graduation rates, college and workforce readiness. 3) Teacher’s teaching out‐of‐field must be certified as highly‐qualified within a certain time frame and all teachers must obtain 120 hours of inservice credit (through their School District’s Master Inservice Plan) or 6 college credits every 5 years to maintain certification. Solution: A sustained professional development program in the form of a series of over 100 subject‐
specific training courses with subject‐specific mentors provided at no cost to the teacher or the district due to grant fund provided by the state. When this grant is fully‐subscribed each year, funding may be provided by districts (at their discretion) through Title 1, 2a or 5 or other sources. These courses are designed to 1) save the teacher hundreds of hours of prep time – not add time to their responsibilities – and 2) to set teachers with new or out‐of‐field assignments on a path to be not only highly‐qualified but also highly‐effective. Space/funds are available on a first come‐first serve basis. Teachers with multiple out‐of‐field assignments may enroll in each of those courses (not limited to one per teacher). How it works: 1. Select course(s): Go to http://UFteacherPD.net to select the courses(s). Teachers choose the new or out‐of‐field course(s) they have been assigned to teach in which they do not have a collegiate major or minor (in the specific subject). Included with each course are both of the following: a. Most courses in this series award 60 in‐service points / hours) upon passing a content mastery exam for each course while teaching the course with the aid of complete subject‐specific instructional and subject‐specific mentoring support. Confirm with your School District that these hours will be credited toward license renewal through the Master Inservice Plan (many districts post this on their web site professional development pages). b. 3 semester credits (equivalent of 60 in‐service points / hours) will be awarded when passing the FTCE (if necessary) and will certify the teacher as “Highly Qualified.” 2. Registration: If you do not already have an enrollment form, download the form found at: http://www.thetlf.org/grant‐enrollment‐form.html. The form states that you “Request that the tuition and materials be paid through the Expert Systems for Teachers grant. 3. Contract details: The teacher should submit an enrollment application (as opposed to a purchase order so as not to encumber funds) to the email address posted below. Every question must be answered to be considered a complete application. Most importantly a. Specific course to be enrolled in named exactly as listed in the university course list b. List the specific FTCE (if necessary) 4. Course Materials and Facilitator: Upon registration the teacher (student) will be emailed instructions to take the online pre‐test (which does not count toward their grade), shipped the course manual with CD, emailed CD login information and the contact information for their course facilitator/mentor. *Attach enrollment forms to an email to this address: registration@teacherPD.net