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Arizona State University Uses TAP™ to Reform Teacher Preparation Program

Arizona State University (ASU) will utilize new federal funds to redesign its teacher preparation program curriculum around TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. ASU was the recipient of a five-year Teacher Quality Partnership grant intended to improve instruction in struggling schools. Announced by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on September 30, 2009, the grants will be used to reform traditional university teacher preparation and teacher residency programs. ASU’s Professional Development School (PDS) program received $33.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education, the largest of the 28 Teacher Quality Partnership grants awarded.

The PDS program, developed by the College of Teacher Education and Leadership (CTEL), is an innovative teacher preparation program that targets high-need schools. The program aims to improve both the preparation of future Arizona teachers and the achievement of students. As opposed to more traditional teacher education programs, PDS gives students three times the amount of hands-on, practical classroom experience. The program also allows residents in rural communities to earn Arizona teacher certification without having to relocate to an urban area of the state.

The Teacher Quality Partnership grant allows ASU's College of Teacher Education and Leadership to expand and improve its teacher professional development school. One of the primary reform initiatives is to incorporate TAP into the curriculum and use the TAP Instructional Rubric in the teacher education program. According to Mari Koerner, CTEL's dean, "We are committed to reinventing the definition of teacher education at a major research university...CTEL is radically reforming its teacher education programs around TAP, which represents a unified model of clinical excellence."