Professional Development

The Educator Preparation Institute offers a variety of professional development classes. Some professional development classes are offered for non-credit continuing education units that can be used toward teacher recertification. Others are offered for institutional college credit. Review classes for the various Florida Teacher Certification Exams (FCTE), which are required for a State of Florida Professional Certificate, are offered through the year as workforce development to help students prepare for exams. These classes are offered on an as needed basis and can be scheduled in other locations in the service area if requested by a school district.

Professional Development courses offered as non-credit continuing education units (CEU):

WFCX 0026: Empowering ESOL Teachers

This class is designed to assist teachers in developing attitudes, skills, and knowledge which will enable them to identify students who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) and to provide and justify effective instruction of LEP students. It will provide an understanding of the variety of backgrounds and cultures that may be found in a typical classroom as well as language functions, school curricula, and articulation with LEP students.  It teaches how social class, religion, language, gender differences, culture and ethnicity, physical differences, and prejudices have an effect on how a student learns and effective teaching strategies to benefit all students.  This course covers standards 2, 3, 4, and 23 of the Florida Performance Standards for Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages and provides 60 hours of the 300 required for ESOL endorsement.

WFCX 0036:  Foundations and Application of Differentiated Instruction

This course is designed to develop an understanding of differentiate instruction and utilize appropriate strategies and materials that use research-based instructional methodology, identification, prevention, and remediation of students with reading difficulties including those from diverse populations.  This course satisfies Competency 4&5 of the State of Florida Reading Endorsement and provides 60 hours of continuing education units. 

At the present time, Reading Endorsement Competency 4&5 are only offered as non-credit continuing education courses. All other Reading courses are offered as institutional college credit courses.

Professional Development courses offered as Institutional College Credit (3 college credit hours):

EPI 0009: Foundations of Language and Cognition

This course teaches language structure and function and cognition of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.  This instruction is grounded in scientifically-based research and meets all the state requirements for competency 1 of the Reading Endorsement.

EPI 0010:  Foundations of Research-Based Practices in Reading

This course provides substantive knowledge of language structure and function and cognition of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.  It provides knowledge of the reading components as well.  Instruction is grounded in scientifically-based reading research as a mechanism to inform instructional practice.  This course meets all of state requirements for competency 2 of the Reading Endorsement.

EPI 0011:  Foundations of Assessment

This course is designed to teach the role of assessments in guiding reading instruction and instructional decision making for reading progress of struggling readers. State requirements for competence 3 of the Reading Endorsement are met by this course.

Professional Development courses offered as workforce development to help students improve skills:

WFCX 0019:  FTCE Review Professional Education
WFCX 0020:  FTCE Review Elementary Education
WFCX 0021:  FTCE Review General Knowledge
WFCX 0032:  FTCE Review Exceptional Student Education
WFCX 0033:  FTCE Review Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum
WFCX 0034:  FTCE Review 6-12 Mathematics