Collier County needs excellent, quality educators in its classrooms.  If you hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited or approved institution and are seriously considering the teaching profession as a first career or a career change, but you aren't sure that teaching is right for you, the following websites have resources to assist you in making this important decision.

www.teachinflorida.com
American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence
Standards and Ethics for Florida Educators

What do you want to teach?

Once you determine that you want to teach, you will need to decide what subject you want to teach, and apply for a Florida Temporary Educator’s Certificate in that subject. 

Need help choosing your certification/teaching subject? The information below can help you make that decision.

• List of certification subjects (Click on a subject to review its requirements)
• Subject Area Examination information.   For most subjects requiring only a bachelor's degree major, a passing score on the appropriate Subject Area Examination will qualify you for a Temporary Certificate in that subject.

Begin the Process

1.   The first step toward becoming eligible to be hired and eligible for a three year temporary certificate is you must have a Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college/university. If you have foreign transcripts, they must be evaluated by an approved credential evaluation agency. Locate an agency at www.fldoe.org/edcert/ApprovedCredential.asp.

2.   After you decide which subject you want to teach, you must pass a Florida subject area examination in the subject area you want to teach (Elementary Ed. K-6, Music, Math, English, etc.). Testing information can be found at www.fl.nesinc.com. You may also download the study guide from the website for test preparation.

3.   After you pass a subject area test, you should apply to the Florida Department of Education (DOE) for a Temporary Certificate in the subject(s) you have chosen.

4.   Send your official transcripts showing all conferred degrees and credits to the DOE.

5.   When the DOE application is complete, it will be evaluated to determine eligibility for a Florida Temporary Certificate. The result of that determination will be mailed to you as an Official Statement of Status of Eligibility (determination may take 4-8 weeks).

6.   Complete a Collier County Public Schools online application - you must have a completed employment application on file to apply for available positions in your area of certification.

7.   After you have obtained a position with CCPS, your fingerprints will be sent to the DOE and the Temporary Certificate will be issued (CCPS will only send fingerprints to the DOE once you have obtained a position within our District). 

Alternative Certification Programs

Many of Florida’s colleges and universities have state-approved Educator Preparation Institutes - For a chart of colleges that offer Alternative Certification programs - Teach in Florida.

American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) – Offers an online, independent study program.

For information on Alternative Certification Programs, see the DOE provided Routes to Florida Professional Certificate Chart.