The Florida Council on Teacher Education (COTE) planned and conducted statewide involvement studies to determine competencies that are essential and acceptable to the profession. This included systematic involvement procedures for gaining professional agreement on identification, assessment, implementation, and other development and research on teaching competencies. Florida COTE held an invitational involvement conference with approximately 200 representatives from statewide organizations of teachers, administrators, and lay persons to determine ways that twenty-three identified competencies might be included in state policy on preservice and inservice teacher education and certification. COTE drafted five recommendations to the Florida Commissioner of Education in January 1976 that would facilitate implementation. This first step lays the groundwork for professional organizations, teacher training institutions, and others to develop more effective training programs and assessment strategies for competencies already accepted by professional educators. (DMT)