Teaching Requirements
Certification and Endorsement Requirements for Teaching Gifted in Florida
Teachers of the gifted must hold appropriate certification for
the content area taught and have the gifted endorsement
identified in
Rule 6A-4.01791, Florida Administrative Code.
The rationale is to ensure that students identified as being
gifted have teachers with content knowledge that is of
sufficient depth, complexity, and abstractness to meet the needs
of the students, along with knowledge about gifted pedagogy.
This is consistent with the gifted program standards of the
National Association for Gifted Children (2001), which state,
“All personnel working with gifted learners must be certified to
teach in the areas to which they are assigned and must be aware
of the unique learning differences and needs of gifted learners
at the grade level at which they are teaching” (p.71). This is
also supported by the National Research Council (2002) report,
Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of
Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools. Key points:
- Teachers at the elementary level must hold elementary certification and the gifted endorsement.
- Teachers who are teaching multiple levels (e.g. elementary and middle school) or interdisciplinary courses (middle school social studies/language arts) must be certified in the subject and content of the areas they teach.
- ESE certification is focused on students with disabilities and does not substitute for the gifted endorsement or certification.
- The school district determines the teacher’s in-field status. The guide is the language in the Course Code Directory.
Teachers holding a teaching certificate with the
appropriate academic coverage for the content of the course
may teach gifted classes while working on their gifted
endorsement. These out-of-field teachers must take 6 credits
(two gifted endorsement courses) per year. Parents of the
students must be notified at the beginning of the school
year of the teacher’s out-of-field status.