Teacher Academy for Preparation & Pedagogy

In order to meet the growing annual need for new teachers and provide a stable community of educators for a diverse and changing student population, DeKalb County School District Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy (DCSD TAPP) prepares teacher candidates to make a long-term commitment to DeKalb County School District. DCSD TAPP is designed to provide a non-traditional preparation route for teacher candidates. Eligible Teacher Candidates teach full-time and are supervised by a Candidate Support Team (CST) comprised of the TAPP Coordinator, trained school based Mentor teacher or Teacher Support and Coaching Specialist, Department Chair,  Professional Learning Facilitator/Field Supervisor, and a school-based Administrator. Candidates have up to three years to complete academy requirements.

Strategically aligned to the requirements set forth by Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the vision and mission of A Blueprint for Success: Preparing Quality Teachers to Ensure Learning for All Students includes the idea that candidates in the Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy are quality, reflective educators who are:

•  pedagogically competent;
•  knowledgeable in content areas;
•  responsive to student diversity (linguistic and learning styles/needs); and
•  able to build and participate as professionals in a community of learners.
   

Shared Vision

The vision of the DeKalb County School District is to inspire our community of learners to achieve educational excellence. Our mission is to ensure student success, leading to higher education, work, and life-long learning.  In order to make this vision and mission a reality - every day, in every classroom throughout the District- the Conceptual Framework of the DeKalb County School District Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy, A Blueprint for Success: Preparing Quality Teachers to Ensure Learning for All Students is consistent with the vision and mission shared by the stakeholders and aligned to the strategic plan to have quality personnel in all positions. 

We encourage you to visit our website to learn more about DeKalb County School District.

By the end of the program, the Teacher Candidates enrolled in DCSD TAPP courses shall demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions:

in having a thorough understanding of state and/or national standards for the purpose of teaching all students in the content field in which the candidate is seeking Clear Renewable Certification;
necessary in developing pre and post assessments that are aligned with state and/or national content standards that clearly demonstrate the students’ knowledge and skills as delineated in the state and/or national standards requirements;
necessary to establish benchmarks for monitoring student progress toward meeting state/national content standards;
necessary to effectively apply the DCSD Teaching and Learning Framework to their content.

The DCSD TAPP program shall prepare candidates who demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions in planning, implementing, and using multiple assessments to determine the level of student learning based on the academic content standards of the teaching field to include the:

development of various types of assessments,
development of scoring guides for the assessments,
analysis of student work to assess achievement and gain,
analysis of assessment data to determine instruction to meet individual student needs,
application of the DCSD Teaching and Learning Framework.

Student Engagement

• Establishment of a standards-based classroom
• Use of research based exemplary practices
• Use of activating strategies
• Use of cognitive strategies
• Use of summarizing strategies
• Use of questioning strategies
• Use Of Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Use Webbʼs Depth of Knowledge
• Use of cooperative learning strategies
• Demonstration of the understanding of relationship between engagement and achievement
• Demonstration of the understanding of how to align research- based strategies with Georgia Standards of Excellence/ Georgia Performance Standards
• Demonstration of the understanding of the role of effective questioning and critical thinking
• Demonstration of the skills to create acquisition and extending/refining lessons based on research-based strategies

Once accepted in the program and you have an offer of employment

Academy Fee

• Non-Elementary Candidates $3,300.00
• Elementary and Special Education Candidates $4,300.00

Transition Point 2 (Academy Orientation): 

• $800.00 is due at initial meeting with program Coordinator.   
• Subsequent payments will be made through payroll deduction

Teacher Candidates will not be allowed to proceed to the next transition point or be recommended for Academy completion until the initial fees are paid.