The current national and state challenge involves overcoming a pressing teacher shortage. Each year Florida school districts face the task of filling more than 16,000 teacher positions due to:

• increased student enrollment,
• implementation of the Florida Class Size Amendment to reduce class size,
• enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandating there be a highly qualified teacher in every core-subject classroom, and
• a continually increasing number of teacher retirement.

(Critical Teacher Shortage Areas 2004-2005, prepared for the Florida State Board of Education)

Designed with your unique needs in mind, the EXCEL Elementary Education major prepares working adult students for elementary certification in the state of Florida.