Reading Endorsement Courses
NEFEC's eLearning Virtual Professional Learning (VPL) is proud to offer online reading courses which are learner-centered, curriculum-focused, and instructor-guided that address all five competencies for teachers seeking the Reading Endorsement. eLearning's VPL courses provide meaningful and authentic learning, access to a variety of research-based best practices, mentoring by our state's experts, and practical application for increased student performance.
It is recommended that the reading endorsement courses be taken in order; however, the Reading Endorsement Competency 1-3 courses can be taken in any order. eLearning requires that you complete at least 2 of the first 3 competencies before registering for the Reading Endorsement Competency 4 course and requires you to complete Reading Endorsement Competencies 1-4 before registering for the Reading Endorsement Competency 5 course.
Competency 1:Instructional Foundations of Language and Reading (60 hours)*
Participants will develop an understanding of reading as a process of student engagement in both fluent decoding of words and construction of meaning. This 60-hour online training will provide substantive knowledge of language structure and function, as well as cognition for each of the five major components of the reading process. This training meets the requirements for Competency 1 of the Reading Endorsement Add-on Certification Program.
Competency 2: Applications of Research-Based Instruction (60 hours)*
Applications of Research-Based Instruction (with components of FOR-PD) is an online staff development training designed to help teachers improve reading instruction for learners in grades preK-12. Course topics include the five essential elements of teaching reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. This 60-hour training meets the requirements for Competency 2 of the Reading Endorsement Add-on Certification Program.
Competency 3: Foundations of Assessment for Teachers and Principals (60 hours)
This online training will provide teachers and principals with skills and knowledge in using the results of screening, diagnosis, progress monitoring and outcome reading assessments to guide instructional decision making in grades K-12. The 60-hour course meets the full requirement of Competency 3, Foundations of Assessment, of the Reading Endorsement Add-on Certification Program.
Competency 4: Foundations and Applications of Differentiated Instruction (60 hours)*
This online training will provide teachers and administrators with knowledge and skills to identify the needs of students with differing profiles and use this knowledge for instructional decision making to meet the needs of all students. Participants will gain an understanding of how to prescribe, differentiate instruction, and utilize appropriate strategies and materials from scientifically-based reading research in order to address prevention, identification, and remediation. This 60-hour online training meets the requirements for Competency 4 of the Reading Endorsement Add-on Certification Program.
Competency 5: Demonstration of Accomplished Practices in Reading (60 hours)
Through this online practicum, participants will demonstrate research-based instructed strategies for all of the components of reading, as well as administration of related assessments and data analysis. Participants will also demonstrate skill in student engagement and differentiation for learners from diverse backgrounds. Participants will be required to submit a minimum of three (3) video-recorded lessons in a digital format in order to meet the demonstration of this Competency. Upon completion of this practicum, participants will have fulfilled Competency 5 of the Florida Reading Endorsement Add-on Certification Program.
Course Schedule/Registration
2023-2024 Reading Endorsement Courses Schedule
To register for a Reading Endorsement course, visit our Trainings/Events page and search Reading Endorsement.
eLearning's VPL courses are for in-service points and are not college level courses. The Florida Department of Education will not accept eLearning's courses if they are submitted by an individual for recertification or endorsement. They must be submitted through a district as part of its approved Professional Learning Catalog.
Participants are responsible for following their district’s requirements to obtain in-service credit and endorsement. If you are unsure if your district will accept courses offered through NEFEC, you will need to check with your district's Staffing Development office prior to taking a course.
For additional information on the reading endorsement requirements, please visit FLDOE's website at http://www.fldoe.org/academics/standards/just-read-fl/reading-endorsement.stml.
*Forty (40) hours of Competency 1, 2, or 4 may also be used to satisfy the effective methods of identifying characteristics of conditions such as dyslexia, and a focus on multisensory interventions requirement as required under Rule 6A-4.0051, F.A.C., Renewal and Reinstatement of a Professional Certificate for the following areas:
Elementary Education (K-6), Prekindergarten/Primary Education (age 3 through grade 3), Elementary Education (grades 1-6), Primary Education (grades K-3), English (grades 1-6), Middle Grades English (grades 5-9), Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum (grades 5-9), English (6-12), Reading (K-12), Reading (Endorsement), and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) (grades K-12).
eLearning's VPL Reading Endorsement courses are self-paced, facilitated courses. The average time to complete a 60 hour course is 8-10 weeks working 6-8 hours per week on course work. The courses are self-paced so you can choose to finish quicker than the 8-10 weeks or can choose to take a little longer if needed as long as the coursework is finished by the course ending date. The courses are completely online and require no face-to-face meetings or specific dates/times required to be online.
Login information and instructions for accessing the courses through Moodle, NEFEC's course management system, is sent by 4:30 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You should receive the email the Monday, Wednesday, or Friday following your registration approval. Sometimes legitimate email messages are filtered by Spam filters within an email program. If you have not received login information by the close of business on the Monday, Wednesday, or Friday following your registration approval, please check first to see if the message is in a junk or spam mail folder within your email program. If you do not find it, contact elearning@nefec.org, to verify your email and to have the information resent.