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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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An act relating to professional learning for 2
instructional and school administrative personnel; 3
amending s. 1012.98, F.S.; requiring certain 4
professional learning systems to provide at least one 5
autism-specific professional learning opportunity; 6
providing requirements for the professional learning; 7
providing an effective date. 8
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 12
1012.98, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13
1012.98 School Community Professional Learning Act.— 14
(5) The Department of Education, school districts, 15
schools, Florida College System institutions, and state 16
universities share the responsibilities described in this 17
section. These responsibilities include the following: 18
(b) Each school district shall develop a professional 19
learning system as specified in subsection (4). The system shall 20
be developed in consultation with teachers, teacher-educators of 21
Florida College System institutions and state universities, 22
business and community representatives, and local education 23
foundations, consortia, and professional organizations. The 24
professional learning system must: 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1. Be reviewed and approved by the department for 26
compliance with s. 1003.42(3) and this section. Effective March 27
1, 2024, the department shall establish a calendar for the 28
review and approval of all professional learning systems. A 29
professional learning system must be reviewed and approved every 30
5 years. Any substantial revisions to the system must be 31
submitted to the department for review and approval. The 32
department shall establish a format for the review and approval 33
of a professional learning system. 34
2. Be based on analyses of student achievement data and 35
instructional strategies and methods that support rigorous, 36
relevant, and challenging curricula for all students. Schools 37
and districts, in developing and refining the professional 38
learning system, shall also review and monitor school discipline 39
data; school environment surveys; assessments of parental 40
satisfaction; performance appraisal data of teachers, managers, 41
and administrative personnel; and other performance indicators 42
to identify school and student needs that can be met by improved 43
professional performance. 44
3. Provide inservice activities coupled with follow-up 45
followup support appropriate to accomplish district-level and 46
school-level improvement goals and standards. The inservice 47
activities for instructional and school administrative personnel 48
shall focus on analysis of student achievement data; ongoing 49
formal and informal assessments of student achievement; 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
identification and use of enhanced and differentiated 51
instructional strategies that emphasize rigor, relevance, and 52
reading in the content areas; enhancement of subject content 53
expertise; integrated use of classroom technology that enhances 54
teaching and learning; classroom management; parent involvement; 55
and school safety. 56
4. Provide inservice activities and support targeted to 57
the individual needs of new teachers participating in the 58
professional learning certification and education competency 59
program under s. 1012.56(8)(a). 60
5. Include a professional learning catalog for inservice 61
activities, pursuant to rules of the State Board of Education, 62
for all district employees from all fund sources. The catalog 63
must be updated annually by September 1, must be based on input 64
from teachers and district and school instructional leaders, and 65
must use the latest available student achievement data and 66
research to enhance rigor and relevance in the classroom. Each 67
district inservice catalog must be aligned to and support the 68
school-based inservice catalog and school improvement plans 69
pursuant to s. 1001.42(18). Each district inservice catalog must 70
provide a description of the training that middle grades 71
instructional personnel and school administrators receive on the 72
district's code of student conduct adopted pursuant to s. 73
1006.07; integrated digital instruction and competency-based 74
instruction and CAPE Digital Tool certificates and CAPE industry 75
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certifications; classroom management; student behavior and 76
interaction; extended learning opportunities for students; and 77
instructional leadership. District plans must be approved by the 78
district school board annually in order to ensure compliance 79
with subsection (1) and to allow for dissemination of research-80
based best practices to other districts. District school boards 81
shall submit verification of their approval to the Commissioner 82
of Education no later than October 1, annually. Each school 83
principal may establish and maintain an individual professional 84
learning plan for each instructional employee assigned to the 85
school as a seamless component to the school improvement plans 86
developed pursuant to s. 1001.42(18). An individual professional 87
learning plan must be related to specific performance data for 88
the students to whom the teacher is assigned, define the 89
inservice objectives and specific measurable improvements 90
expected in student performance as a result of the inservice 91
activity, and include an evaluation component that determines 92
the effectiveness of the professional learning plan. 93
6. Include inservice activities for school administrative 94
personnel, aligned to the state's educational leadership 95
standards, which address updated skills necessary for 96
instructional leadership and effective school management 97
pursuant to s. 1012.986. 98
7. Provide for systematic consultation with regional and 99
state personnel designated to provide technical assistance and 100
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evaluation of local professional learning programs. 101
8. Provide for delivery of professional learning by 102
distance learning and other technology-based delivery systems to 103
reach more educators at lower costs. 104
9. Provide for the continuous evaluation of the quality 105
and effectiveness of professional learning programs in order to 106
eliminate ineffective programs and strategies and to expand 107
effective ones. Evaluations must consider the impact of such 108
activities on the performance of participating educators and 109
their students' achievement and behavior. 110
10. For all grades, emphasize: 111
a. Interdisciplinary planning, collaboration, and 112
instruction. 113
b. Alignment of curriculum and instructional materials to 114
the state academic standards adopted pursuant to s. 1003.41. 115
c. Use of small learning communities; problem-solving, 116
inquiry-driven research and analytical approaches for students; 117
strategies and tools based on student needs; competency-based 118
instruction; integrated digital instruction; and project-based 119
instruction. 120
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Each school that includes any of grades 6, 7, or 8 shall include 122
in its school improvement plan, required under s. 1001.42(18), a 123
description of the specific strategies used by the school to 124
implement each item listed in this subparagraph. 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
11. Provide training to reading coaches, classroom 126
teachers, and school administrators in effective methods of 127
identifying characteristics of conditions such as dyslexia and 128
other causes of diminished phonological processing skills; 129
incorporating instructional techniques into the general 130
education setting which are proven to improve reading 131
performance for all students; and using predictive and other 132
data to make instructional decisions based on individual student 133
needs. The training must help teachers integrate phonemic 134
awareness; phonics, word study, and spelling; reading fluency; 135
vocabulary, including academic vocabulary; and text 136
comprehension strategies into an explicit, systematic, and 137
sequential approach to reading instruction, including 138
multisensory intervention strategies. Such training for teaching 139
foundational skills must be based on the science of reading and 140
include phonics instruction for decoding and encoding as the 141
primary instructional strategy for word reading. Instructional 142
strategies included in the training may not employ the three-143
cueing system model of reading or visual memory as a basis for 144
teaching word reading. Such instructional strategies may include 145
visual information and strategies which improve background and 146
experiential knowledge, add context, and increase oral language 147
and vocabulary to support comprehension, but may not be used to 148
teach word reading. Each district must provide all elementary 149
grades instructional personnel access to training sufficient to 150
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meet the requirements of s. 1012.585(3)(f). 151
12. Provide at least one autism-specific professional 152
learning opportunity annually for instructional personnel and 153
school-based administrators. The professional learning must be 154
developed in consultation with the district's assigned Center 155
for Autism and Related Disabilities and must include evidence-156
based practices for supporting students with autism spectrum 157
disorder across all levels of need, including academic 158
instruction, behavioral supports, communication strategies, and 159
inclusive practices. 160
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 161