Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program of Study

RTAPS is a flexible, competency-based, fully virtual curriculum designed to expand access to teacher education. Scheduled to be available for adoption starting in December 2025, it provides a streamlined pathway for teacher apprentices with 60 or more credit hours to become licensed educators. The curriculum aligns with InTASC standards and incorporates cutting-edge virtual simulation technology to provide authentic learning experiences.

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About RTAPS

In collaboration with sixteen faculty fellows from seven universities across Tennessee and supported by a $1.8 million Ascendium Education Group grant, the Grow Your Own Center developed the Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program of Study (RTAPS). This competency-based, fully virtual curriculum expands access to teacher preparation, particularly for aspiring educators in rural and underserved communities. Available for EPPs to adopt in December 2025, RTAPS provides a competency-based approach for apprentices with 60+ credit hours to become licensed educators. EPPs can offer streamlined pathways or incorporate RTAPS into existing programs. RTAPS aligns with Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) standards and incorporates virtual simulation technology for rigorous, authentic practice opportunities. It includes instructional materials, assessments, rubrics, and mentor support, advancing statewide teacher apprenticeship pathways. 

Key Benefits of RTAPS

  • Comprehensive and Standards-Based: RTAPS aligns fully with InTASC standards, offering a rigorous, secure curriculum for Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs). 
  • Competency-Based Flexibility: EPPs can adopt the 16 competencies individually or as a complete set, enabling tailored integration into existing teacher preparation programs. 
  • Support for Diverse Learners: Designed to reduce barriers for non-traditional learners, including those in rural areas, RTAPS offers flexible, competency-based education and licensure pathways. 
  • Sustainable and Innovative: The program emphasizes competency-based assessments, prior learning recognition, and standardizes apprenticeship credit earned on the job. 

Meet the Partners and Teacher Education Faculty Working on RTAPS 

Institute for Competency-based Teacher Education (ICBTE): a service organization comprised of teacher education faculty who serve voluntary 2-year terms to study, maintain, and improve RTAPS. 

Collaboration involves cross-institutional partnerships, as Faculty Fellows create, maintain, and improve RTAPS. 

ICBTE reduces or eliminates challenges to entering the teacher workforce by: 

  1. Overcoming access challenges 
  2. Honoring competencies over classroom time 
  3. Leveraging technology 

Our Partners

Participating Institutions

Teacher Education Faculty

Austin Peay State University

Lori Allen
Coord. of Continuous Improvement,
College of Education

Laura Barnett
Assistant Professor,
College of Education

Christi Maldonado
Assistant Professor,
College of Education

Allison Oliver
Assistant Professor,
College of Education

Donna Short
Assistant Professor,
College of Education

Bing Xiao
Assistant Professor,
College of Education

Lipscomb University

Leslie Cowell
Dean, College of Education

Middle Tennessee State University

Shannon Harmon
Associate Professor,
College of Education

UT Chattanooga

Stephanie Brennan
Lecturer and Grow Your Own Program Coordinator,
School of Education

UT Knoxville

Amelia Brown
Data Coordinator,
Office of Professional Licensure,
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences

UT Martin

Amelia Brown
Data Coordinator,
Office of Professional Licensure,
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences

Laura Plunk
Lecturer,
Department of Educational Studies

Clinton Smith
Professor and Chair,
Department of Educational Studies

Alisa Wilson
Assistant Professor,
Department of Educational Studies

UT Southern

Claire Paul
Program Coordinator of
Special Education,
School of Education

Cindy Young
Grow Your Own Coordinator,
School of Education

Flexible Curriculum Adoption

The RTAPS curriculum can be used in both undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs, broadening apprenticeship access across multiple pathways. Each EPP will align the curriculum content with their specific licensure requirements to ensure candidates are fully prepared to meet state standards. This flexibility enables RTAPS to support aspiring educators with varied backgrounds and goals, furthering the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center’s mission to provide accessible, high-quality teacher education statewide. 

RTAPS offers 16 key competencies that can be adopted individually or as a full set. Each competency is customizable at different levels to meet the specific needs of EPPs: 

Levels of Curriculum Adoption 

RTAPS provides three levels of curriculum adoption per competency, allowing programs to choose the best fit: 

  • Level 1: Summative Assessment 
    • Focuses on summative assessments, including Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) with virtual simulations. 
  • Level 2: Select Modules and Summative Assessment 
    • Combines select RTAPS modules into existing courses, alongside summative assessments, with virtual simulations. 
  • Level 3: Full Curriculum Adoption 
    • Involves adopting the full set of RTAPS modules including formative activities (3 credit hours) and virtual simulations, ensuring alignment with relevant standards and licensure requirements in addition to InTASC standards. Thoughtful consideration is needed to determine how the curriculum fits into the program’s pathway or coursework. 

The 16 RTAPS Competency Modules with InTASC Alignment

1. Leveraging Knowledge of Students in Designing Dynamic Learning Experiences

The teacher can use their knowledge of how learners individually grow & develop in cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical ways to design & implement developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experience. They are committed to using the learners’ strengths and misconceptions, along with input from families and colleagues, to promote growth and development.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 2: Learning Differences
  • Standard 1: Learner Development

2. Language and Culture in Learning: Strategies for Effective Instruction

The teacher can meet the diverse needs and backgrounds of individual students, incorporating their language and culture, in designing inclusive learning experiences that enable each learner to meet high standards.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 2: Learning Differences
  • Standard 1: Learner Development

3. Cultivating Excellence: Collaborative Education Ecosystems

The teacher collaborates with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to create a positive learning climate and ensure learner growth.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 10: Leadership and Collaboration
  • Standard 3: Learning Environments

4. Managing Learner Environments

The teacher can manage a collaborative learning environment using a wide variety of resources to engage each learner and build learner self-direction and ownership of learning.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 3: Learning Environments

5. Instructional Design

The teacher candidate applies discipline-specific content knowledge to develop instructional plans and activities that ensures the discipline is accessible and meaningful for all learners to master content.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 4: Content Knowledge

6. Connecting Multiple Disciplines to Real World Problems

The teacher values learning across disciplines and develops and implements meaningful learning opportunities that connect multiple disciplinary perspectives to real world problems.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 5: Application of Content

7. Application of Content

The teacher connects concepts and values diverse perspectives and authentic issues to engage learners in critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 8: Instructional Strategies
  • Standard 5: Application of Content

8. Assessment Strategies

The teacher uses, designs or adapts multiple methods of valid & reliable assessments for a variety of learners to document, monitor, and support learner progress appropriate for learning goals and objectives.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 6: Assessment

9. Using Assessments to Engage Learners

The teacher can engage learners in their own growth by using a variety of assessments to monitor learner progression, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s’ decision making. They are committed to engage learners in generating criteria for quality work, designing learning experiences that helps learners apply feedback and strengthen their performance.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 6: Assessment

10. Teaching with Integrity: Ethical and Professional Standards

The teacher can model professionalism and demonstrate ethical practices while minimizing bias through assessment, instructional practices, and implementation of technology.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 6: Assessment
  • Standard 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

11. Designing Learning Experiences

The teacher can select, create, and sequence instructional strategies to design learning experiences that engage each elearner in reaching rigorous curriculum goals, making connections across content, and applying content knowledge in meaningful ways.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 7: Planning for Instruction
  • Standard 8: Instructional Strategies

12. Data-Driven Teaching

The teacher plans and adjusts instruction appropriate for learners’ diverse strengths and needs using multiple sources of data over time.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 7: Planning for Instruction

13. Collaborative Planning

The teacher plans instruction that reflects collaboration with colleagues, analysis of assessment data, and knowledge of the learner to meet individual learner needs.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 7: Planning for Instruction

14. Strategies for All: Universal Access in Learning Environments

The teacher can implement a range of instructional strategies throughout instruction to ensure that learners can access and engage with the learning environment.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 8: Instructional Strategies

15. Targeted Professional Learning

The teacher pursues ongoing professional development to adapt teaching practices to better meet learner needs.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

16. Teacher Leader

The teacher seeks opportunity to engage in appropriate leadership roles that affects student learning and advances the profession.

InTASC Alignment:

  • Standard 10: Leadership and Collaboration

TNGYOC Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program of Study by University of Tennessee System is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0