You received an ESOL Out-of-Field notification because you are teaching Language Arts, English, Reading, Elementary or ESE (Category 1) to English Language Learners and do not have an ESOL Endorsement or Certification .

You received an ESOL Out-of-Compliance notification because you are teaching Math, Science, Social Studies or Computer Literacy (Category 2), or fine arts, electives, Speech-Language Pathologists, or Occupational/Physical Therapist and other subjects (Category 3) to English Language Learners and have not completed the required training. If you are an administrator or a guidance counselor (Category 4) and received this notification you have not completed your required training.

Beginning on July 1, 2011, new standards for ESOL Endorsement Program courses by the State Board of Education take effect if a district offers an Add-On Certification Program in ESOL to their Language Arts and Reading teachers. The five ESOL courses that are approved to be offered beginning on July 1, 2011 for the ESOL Endorsement Program are as follows and can be taken in any order:
ESOL-Applied Linguistics,
ESOL-Cross-Cultural Communication,
ESOL-Curriculum and Materials,
ESOL-Methods of Teaching,
ESOL-Testing and Evaluation.

No, completing certification requirements are the sole responsibility of the educator. Timeline notifications are clearly explained on your out-of-field or out-of-compliance letter. If you are unsure about your timeline, please contact the certification department with your questions.

Year 1 - 3 semester hours or 60 inservice points
Year 2 - 6 semester hours or 120 inservice points
Year 3 - 9 semester hours or 180 inservice points
Year 4 - 12 semester hours or 240 inservice points
Year 5 - 15 semester hours or 300 inservice points

Once all five of the required courses are completed and are reflected on your inservice record you must submit your application to the FL DOE with your payment. You are considered out-of-field until it is on your certificate. Note: An endorsement is a rider on a Florida certificate with a full subject coverage and denotes a particular expertise in an instructional level or methodology. An endorsement cannot stand alone on a certificate.

Yes, HCSD will accept this course if it was taken prior to July 1, 2011. To complete the ESOL Endorsement requirements, you will select four additional courses from this list to complete the Endorsement: ESOL Applied Linguistics, ESOL Cross-Cultural Communications, ESOL Curriculum and Materials, ESOL Methods of Teaching, or ESOL Testing and Evaluation.

No, as of July 1, 2011 you cannot receive credit for a reading endorsement course for completing the ESOL Endorsement courses. The approved route for ESOL endorsed teachers to add the reading endorsement onto their certificate is detailed on the Florida Department of Education web site: http://www.justreadflorida.com/Endorsement/files/Reading_Certification_Brochure.pdf

The district provides online ESOL training to full time teachers in the district. The courses available are offered through Edivate at no cost to the participant. Registration notifications for open courses are put out in district email through the Professional Development Icon.

Yes, there are several providers that offer the endorsement courses online. Hernando County does not reimburse teachers for registration fees taken outside of the district. Please contact the PD office to check if the outside providers class is accepted in HCSD before you take the class.

To assist teachers in using the credit earned for ESOL courses, the DOE allows “banking” of ESOL points. The “banking rules” changed in 1997, so the number of “bankable points” you have is now determined by the current DOE rules.

Points for any ESOL courses taken may be banked if you have enough points for renewal of certificate without using those ESOL points.
You may now bank as many ESOL points as you have that are “excess” and may bank them for more than one renewal period. (Old rules provided that for courses taken prior to July 1, 1997 a maximum 120 points could be banked and they could be used only in the subsequent renewal period.)