The Teacher Institute at La Academia (TILA) was an alternative teacher licensure program located in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and was an official
Colorado Department of Education
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that is responsible for education. It is headquartered in Denver.alternative certification programs for individuals that had not completed a traditional teacher certification program. TILA was specially designed for people who have already received an
undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...
, and have the desire to change their career or enhance their professional status through teacher licensure. TILA candidates were awarded an alternative teaching license, while working as a full-time teacher in the state of
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. Successful completion of the year-long TILA program resulted in the recommendation of an Initial Colorado Teaching license that is valid for three years.
History
TILA functioned as a designated agency for alternative teacher licensure from 2001 to 2013 and was approved by the
Colorado Department of Education
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that is responsible for education. It is headquartered in Denver.special education
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
. The program was a recipient of a federally sponsored Department of Education Transition to Teaching grant that supported 250 classroom teachers in the Alternative Teacher Licensure program by 2014, statewide.
Partnerships
The Institute developed a strong partnership with the
University of Colorado at Denver
The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a public research university in Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system.
History University of Colorado System Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado create ...
and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) that enabled licensure candidates to earn nine graduate credits at the University. These credits directly transferred into one of two M.A. programs (Curriculum and Instruction with a Focus on Language, Literacy and Culturally Responsive Teaching and Special Education) at UCDHSC. The cost of these credits was included in the TILA fee schedule. The path to the graduate credits was embedded into the State-approved TILA program and negotiated into the agreement between TILA and UCDHSC.
Endorsements
TILA candidates can choose one endorsement area during their program.
* Early Childhood Education (Ages Birth-8)
* Elementary Education (Grades: Grades K-6)
* Special Education Generalist (Ages 5–21)
* All K-12 Endorsements
* All Secondary Endorsements
Discontinued endorsement areas include:
* Linguistically Diverse Education
Program Components
The Teacher Institute at La Academia consists of three major components:
# Classroom teaching experience, in which the TILA candidate must be a full-time teacher of record
# Direct pedagogical instruction in a seminar format that offers university graduate credit
# A reflective and research-oriented competency based portfolio
See also
*
Alternative teacher certification
Alternative teacher certification is a process by which a person is awarded a teaching license even though that person has not completed a traditional teacher certification program. In the US, traditional teacher certification is earned through com ...