Teach Baton Rouge program members have the opportunity to receive alternate certification through the New Teacher Project (TNTP) Academy.  Teach Baton Rouge will support program members as they complete the necessary requirements to teach in Louisiana with a practitioner license.

PRAXIS Requirements
The PRAXIS exam is an admission requirement for all new teachers and is administered through Educational Testing Service. To be eligible for the TNTP Academy, program members must take and pass the following portions of the PRAXIS exam:
¤ PRAXIS I (Pre-Professional Skills Test)
¤ PRAXIS II (Subject Assessments/Specialty Area tests)
*Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) test must be taken and passed within the first year of teaching.

Training Institute
Following their acceptance, Teach Baton Rouge (TBR) practitioner teachers will spend approximately 12 hours in public school classrooms independently observing experienced teachers, analyzing their teaching strategies and documenting their observations.

During the training institute practitioner teachers will attend a rigorous six to seven week pre-service training designed to help new teachers develop their commitment and ability to effect gains in student achievement in their classroom. The institute includes:
¤  One week introduction to the institute Teaching for Student Achievement curriculum
¤  A student teaching experience in which participants work in groups to teach a class of students under the supervision of experienced teachers
¤  Daily meetings with faculty to discuss the day's teaching and the institute curriculum to make connections between theory and practice
¤  Afternoon and evening workshops, seminars, and group planning time

The institute curriculum format will offer opportunities for:
¤  Observation in EBR schools
¤  Hands-on teaching experience
¤  Guidance form experienced faculty
¤  Seminars and workshops on theory and methodology

The institute will be held during the summer.
After the training institute, program members will have access to a wide support network, including mentor teachers, meetings with group members, ongoing workshops, observations by experienced teachers, and regular communication among new teachers to enhance their own professional development. In addition, East Baton Rouge Parish School System will work to place Teach Baton Rouge members in small clusters at partner schools, so that program members can support each other during the successes and challenges encountered in the first years of teaching.

Teaching Internship
Teach Baton Rouge (TBR) practitioner teachers will assume full-time teaching positions in EBRPSS at the start of the following school year. We will strive to place TBR practitioner teachers in schools with other program participants in order to foster collaboration and professional growth.

During the first year teaching internship, practitioner teachers will be provided with support in a variety of ways including:

» Seminars Program members will meet regularly with a small group of teachers from a similar content area, led by a master teacher. They will focus on student achievement, content-related pedagogy, and best practices.

»  Professional Development Opportunities Professional development will be offered several times a month to provide additional opportunities to learn teaching strategies and complement what teachers are learning in content seminars.

» Mentoring Team Program members will be supported throughout their first year of teaching through a team mentoring approach. Program members will be supported by their Program Director, and a Mentor Teacher.

» Planning and Data Analysis Portfolio The Portfolio is an evaluation and professional development tool used to determine a participant's effectiveness and eligibility for Louisiana certification.

 » BEST (Beginning Educator’s Support Track)
• Intended for all brand new (<1 year experience) teachers in EBR.
• Includes both optional and mandatory items.

» Timeline
The timeframe for practitioner teachers to become certified is eighteen to twenty-four months. Once a teacher has successfully fulfilled all requirements for the TNTP Academy - PRAXIS, Training Institute, Teaching Internship, Planning and Data Analysis Portfolio and ACE requirements he or she can receive a Level 1 professional certificate.

» Certification Costs
The full tuition cost per participant for the TNTP Academy is approximately $4,000. Program members must also pay the Practitioner License application fee of $50.00 and fingerprint background fee of $52.50. The exact costs for the 2013-14 TNTP Academy cohort have yet to be determined.