Two Florida State Board of Education rules adopted in 2026 have taken effect, reshaping how high school GPAs are calculated and what teacher preparation programs must teach. Rule 6A-1.09953 establishes a statewide uniform weighted grading scale on a 5.0 basis, and Rule 6A-5.0661 requires all state-approved teacher preparation programs to adopt uniform core curricula by August 1, 2027. A separate statutory deadline requires the Florida Department of Education to begin developing the Florida Teacher Excellence Examination by July 1, 2027.
Uniform Weighted Grading Scale
Rule 6A-1.09953, which took effect September 2, 2026, applies to students entering ninth grade in the 2026-27 school year and later. The rule mandates a 5.0 weighted scale: standard courses use values from 4.0 for an A down to 0.0 for an F. Honors courses and secondary industry certification courses receive an additional 0.5 weight, making an A worth 4.5. Accelerated courses, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, AICE, dual enrollment, and the state’s Florida Advanced Courses and Tests program, receive an additional 1.0 weight, making an A worth 5.0. According to the rule text published in the Florida Administrative Register, school districts may not apply any additional weighting beyond what the rule specifies. Districts must also establish procedures to convert weighted grades for transfer students and clearly show weighted grades on transcripts. Prior to this rule, Florida school districts were authorized to set their own weighted grading policies for class ranking. The new rule replaces that district-level discretion with a uniform statewide scale and introduces a two-tier weighting system that distinguishes honors and industry certification courses from accelerated courses.
For students who earned high school credit before the rule’s effective date, the rule requires that their existing weighted credits be recalculated to align with the new scale upon entering ninth grade. Students who entered ninth grade in 2025-26 or earlier remain subject to the grading policy in place for their cohort until graduation. The rule was developed under statutory authority granted by the Florida Legislature through House Bill 1279 during the 2026 session, which amended Section 1003.437 of state law.
Teacher Preparation Uniform Core Curricula
Rule 6A-5.0661, effective August 25, 2026, requires that by August 1, 2027, every state-approved teacher preparation program provide uniform core curricula courses aligned with the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices. The rule mandates a foundational course titled "Foundations of Civil Discourse, American Exceptionalism, and Western Civilization." Per the rule, the course must cover the nature and importance of civil discourse for democratic self-government; the American founding and the Constitution, including natural rights, consent of the governed, separation of powers, and federalism; the development of American political thought within Western civilization from ancient Greece and Rome through the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, democratic revolutions, and twentieth-century challenges including totalitarianism; and the common good and the teacher’s vocation.
The rule also prohibits curricula that distort significant historical events, listing denial or minimization of the Holocaust and the teaching of Critical Race Theory as examples. It bars promoting identity politics and endorsing theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States or that those institutions were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities. The rulemaking authority comes from Section 1012.551, created by House Bill 875 in 2025.
Teacher Excellence Examination Under Development
Section 1012.551 of Florida law, passed in 2025, requires the Department of Education to begin developing the Florida Teacher Excellence Examination no later than July 1, 2027. The examination must align with the revised Florida Educator Accomplished Practices and serve as a measure of educator readiness for professional certification. The same statute required a workgroup to be established by September 1, 2025, with findings delivered to the governor and legislative leadership by July 1, 2026, and directed the State Board of Education to consider the revised practices and the uniform core curricula rule by August 1, 2026. The rule for uniform core curricula was noticed for development in July 2025 and adopted in August 2026.