Program Curriculum

The curriculum of the Austin ISD Teacher Academy (ATA) is based on the state standards established by the State Board for Educator Certification and are aligned with the state board exams, the state Professional Development and Appraisal System Framework, as well as the state curriculum established for Texas public schools (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-TEKS).

Participants are required to pass several state board exams for certification:

• Content - Although the transcript evaluation helps to determine the preparation and knowledge of the applicant for the content exam at the middle and secondary level certificates, the ATA does provide testing preparation for all applicants in their content area. This exam must be passed prior to teaching.
  

• Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilites - There are four domains included in the state standards. These are:
  Standard 1: designing instruction appropriate for all students that reflects an understanding of relevant content and is based on continuous and appropriate assessment.

  Standard 2: creating a classroom environment of respect and rapport that fosters a positive climate for learning, equity, and excellence.

  Standard 3: promoting student learning by providing responsive instruction that makes use of effective communication techniques, instructional strategies that actively engage students in the learning process, and timely, high-quality feedback.

  Standard 4: fulfilling professional roles and responsibilities and adhering to legal and ethical requirements of the profession.

• Texas Oral Proficiency Test - for Bilingual interns only

In covering these standards, participants will learn about lesson design, classroom environment, human growth and development, diversity of learners, instructional techniques and strategies, professional ethics, and much more.