The Florida Teacher Certification Exams (FTCE) Professional Education Test is one of Florida's state-mandated teacher certification tests. Florida law requires that teachers demonstrate mastery of basic skills, professional knowledge, and content area of specialization. Thus, if you want to teach in a Florida public elementary, middle, or secondary public school, (normally) you will have to take and pass at least three tests:
The FTCE General Knowledge Test
The FTCE Professional Education Test
A subject area examination (SAE) in the field in which you want to be certified
The FTCE General Knowledge test assesses your basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. For the FTCE Professional Education test, you have to demonstrate your knowledge about learning, teaching, and professional conduct. The subject area test covers the content that you are required to teach. (You can find a list of the required SAEs for the various subject areas on the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Web site.) The purpose of the certification program in Florida is to ensure that certified teachers possess sufficient professional knowledge and skills to effectively perform their roles as teachers in Florida.
You have two-and-a-half hours to complete the 120 multiple-choice test items. You may work through the questions at your own pace as long as you stay within the two-and-a-half-hour timeframe. Questions are not divided into individual sections.
Currently, the FTCE Professional Education Exam is administered five times a year (usually in October, January, March, April, and July) at locations throughout the state. Four additional supplemental testings (usually in September, December, February, and May) are administered in limited locations.
You can find information on test dates, site locations, fees, registration procedures, and policies in the current Registration Bulletin available through the University of South Florida's (USF) Certification Examinations for Florida Educators Web site and on the Florida Department of Education FTCE Web page.
