Nova Southeastern University

The applied professional experience is one of many practical applications included in the elementary education specialization. It is the final step in the completion of the program. Conducted in an appropriate educational setting, candidates will maintain reflective journals and create files of samples of their students’ work and the assessment instruments used to demonstrate achievement of the state professional and content standards. All applied professional experiences are accompanied by portfolios detailing the rationale, process, and evaluation of the project.

• Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) – Passing scores on the following areas:
  a. Professional Education Test (PEd) b. General Knowledge Test (GK) or CLAST (if taken prior to July 1, of 2002)
  c. Subject Area Exam (SAE) in Elementary Education K-6 
  d. Evidence of student teaching experience or have a minimum of one (1) year of full-time teaching experience in a K-12 school.

• Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) – Passing scores on the following area:
  a. Subject Area Exam (SAE) in Elementary Education K-6
• Satisfactory completion of all required coursework
• Successful completion of the Supervised Teaching Internship, including the portfolio, demonstrating competence within the Educator Accomplished Practices
• Cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher

Faculty members for the master of science in education degree program are scholars and educators from Nova Southeastern University and other major universities and institutions throughout the country. In addition many are also highly respected professional practitioners, who are carefully selected on the basis of their subject expertise, teaching abilities, and professional involvement. Most importantly, they are united in their desire to not only educate, but to inspire students to use what they learn to motivate others.

The master of science in education degree program with a specialization in elementary education state approved in Florida meets all requirements of the Florida Department of Education’s elementary education (grades k–6) add-on certification and requirements for the ESOL endorsement.

Florida participates in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification Interstate Agreement facilitating mobility of educational personnel with more than 50 other states and jurisdictions for teacher certification and/or licensure. Graduates who wish to teach outside the state of Florida must contact the state's department of education for information for attaining certification/licensure through reciprocity.