University of Florida Rachel Cook
Earlier this year, Florida’s K-12 teachers had already exceeded 3,000 vacancies. This continuing teacher shortage across the state has led University of Florida leaders to earn a new online Bachelor of Arts degree, scheduled to begin in fall 2025.
Established by a Florida Department of Education grant developed by UF University of Education and provided by UF Online, the innovative program offers flexible, online and accessible learning for Florida residents who want to become educators.
“We have an extreme teacher shortage in Florida and as a land granting agency, I think we have a responsibility to support the solution,” said Dr. Alyson Adams, director of the Department of Education, UF’s Faculty of Education. “This online program will accommodate students across Florida and expand UF’s reach beyond campus-based programs.”
Dr. Rhiannon Pollard, interim director of UF Online, said, “The primary education program has a meaningful impact on teacher education in Florida, and UF Online is truly thrilled to work with the College of Education to offer this degree.”
Adams and her colleagues have developed a special program for Florida residents who can be consistently involved in elementary school classrooms through their research. By growing your own teacher apprentice program with funding from Pathways to Carey Opportunities Grant, Adams and her colleagues have created four new courses and rethinking the program for online distribution.
The coursework is structured around real-world learning experiences, allowing students to engage in lesson planning, participate in guided discussions with mentoring teachers, and gradually move towards a more independent educational experience.
“UF’s programs focus on learning and learning with mastery teachers, so the content learned in the course is immediately useful in the classroom,” Adams said.
After the successful launch of the online early childhood education program last year, the primary education program offers additional routes for future educators. While the Early Childhood Education Program focuses on accreditation for teaching students from age 3 to 3, the new program will lead to accreditation for teaching students from kindergarten to sixth grade, highlighting curriculum and instruction in a variety of content areas.
Students completing the program are eligible for professional educational accreditation in primary and reading approval and English approval for speakers in other languages.
“Our goal is to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively address the lack of teachers in Florida and become highly qualified teachers who can promote quality learning in primary schools,” Adams said.
In addition to Bachelor of Arts and Early Childhood Education degrees in Education in Primary Education, the University of Education offers Bachelor of Arts in Educational Science through UF Online. Students can further enrich research with online minors in social, early childhood research and educational technology disorders.
For more information about UF Online’s new primary education major, please visit ufonline.ufl.edu/degrees/undergraduate/elementary-education/ to apply for the first fall cohort by April 28th.
