All teacher candidates seeking initial certification develop knowledge and skills in teaching English learners (ELs). Teacher candidates whose subject areas include teaching language arts develop more in-depth knowledge and skills for teaching ELs. More specifically, those seeking an education track bachelor's degree in Early Childhood, Elementary, English Language Arts, and Exceptional Student Education as well as those seeking a graduate degree in Elementary (MA), Exceptional Student (MA) or English Language Arts (MAT) Education with the ESOL endorsement in addition to their primary area of certification. This is a Department of Education requirement of all Florida teacher education institutions.

Through the collaboration of faculty and clinical educators in multidisciplinary program areas, UCF offers the ESOL endorsement through an approach called "ESOL infusion," which means that a substantial part of the ESOL endorsement curriculum is embedded into courses other than ESOL program (i.e., TSL prefix) courses. This is a great benefit to our students because it reduces the number of TSL credits required for the ESOL endorsement from 15 to 6. In compensation for this reduction in credit hours, students are expected to document mastery of ESOL Performance Standards met in most courses in their program of studies through an ESOL Portfolio (Via™) as well as during field experiences teaching English learners.

These teacher certification programs offer ESOL endorsement through an infusion model. Click on the program links to view each program’s ESOL standards matrix. Additional information is available in Via™ for current students.