Science and Mathematics Education

FLDOE Institutional Report Card

Mission

Florida Institute of Technology is an independent technological university that provides quality education, furthers knowledge through academics and applied research, and serves the diverse needs of our local, state, national and international constituencies.

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Teacher Education

Florida Tech offers eight (8) state approved teacher preparation Programs in science, mathematics and computer science. The four-year curriculum leads to a Bachelor of Science degree. The science education program options are biology, chemistry, earth and space, and general. Selected courses are approved for credit toward recency-of-credit, extension, reissuance or reinstatement of certificates.

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State Approved Program

For students to receive the "State Approved Program" endorsement on their transcripts, they must meet all requirements for obtaining a Florida Educator's Certificate, including completing the course work with a minimum 2.5 GPA, passing the CLAST, passing the Professional and Subject Area subtests of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam and earning a minimum 3.0 GPA for 18 credit hours of student teaching. There are students who choose to graduate without the State Approved Program endorsement. Some of these students do not take the FTCE because they plan to leave the state after graduation to return home to teach. In addition, there is a small group of students receiving ROTC scholarships that require them to enter the Army for two years following graduation. These students usually do not take the exams because the FTCE scores are only valid for two years.

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Best Practices

Florida Tech students get a strong background in mathematics and the sciences. Education majors take the same content courses that traditional science and mathematics majors take through their junior year, sitting alongside the other science, mathematics and engineering students.

Each of our teacher education programs exceeds the number of content area credits required for certification.

As a small department that fosters a family-like atmosphere, our education students enjoy small classes, commonly of 10 to 15 students. This provides our students with ample opportunities to interact in their education classes and present lessons for peer review.

The undergraduate curriculum includes 810 hours of clinical/field experience and student teaching distributed through all four years of each bachelor's degree program.

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Notable Accomplishments

Tracey Bailey graduated from Florida Tech's science education department in 1988. Five years later, he was selected from among 2.7 million educators in the United States as the 1993/94 National Teacher of the Year.

Our graduates continually win awards, both for what they do and for what their students do.

Many of our students seek certification in more than one science content area or with a combination of science and mathematics. Additionally, many are also certifiable at more than one educational level.

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Statistics for 2007-2008

  Biology Chemistry Earth/Space Physics Mathematics Middle Grades
General Science 		Middle Grades
Mathematics 		Middle Grades
Math & Science 		Total
DOE Code 288 289 302 291 287 307 306 365  
# Students 7 5 6 4 7 2 2 1 34
# Student Teachers 4 1 1 1 2       9
# ST Supervisors                 1
Faculty/Student Teacher Ratio                 1:9

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Pass Rates for 2007-2008 Program Completers

   Program

FTCE General

FTCE Professional

FTCE Subject

Summary

DOE Code Name # Pass # Taking % Pass # Pass # Taking % Pass # Pass # Taking % Pass # Pass # Taking % Pass

288

Biology 4 4 100 4 4 100 4 4 100 4 4 100
289 Chemistry 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100
302 Earth/Space 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100
291 Physics 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100 1 1 100
287 Mathematics 2 2 100 2 2 100 2 2 100 2 2 100

Number of hours per week required for student teaching: Semester 1 = 15, Semester 2 = 25

Number of weeks per term required for student teaching: Semester 1 = 10, Semester 2 = 14

The total number of clock hours required in student teaching: 500

Passing the General Knowledge FTCE is required for Admission.

Passing the FTCE General Knowledge, Professional Knowledge, Subject Matter subtests, and a cumlative GPA of at least 2.5 are required for completion.

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