Troops to Teachers

Troops to Teachers is a U.S. Department of Education and Department of Defense program that helps eligible military personnel begin a new career as teachers in public schools where their skills, knowledge and experience are most needed.

Contact an Advisor

UTA Contact:
Dr. Nancy Hadaway

SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL:
Military Personnel must contact
Meryl Kettler, Texas Director
Troops to Teachers
(512) 919-5484
meryl.kettler@esc13.txed.net

UTA's TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA program is for secondary certification only.

Spouses to Teachers is a Department of Defense pilot project designed to assist spouses of active duty and reserve military members to become public school teachers.

What is Troops to Teachers at UTA?

TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA is an innovative program at The University of Texas at Arlington, which offers a five-course sequence of professional development graduate-level education courses. TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA is designed for eligible military personnel with baccalaureate degrees who are seeking a Texas Teacher Certificate at the secondary level.

All courses are available via the Internet, with varying availability during the academic year. Applicants for the program must meet certain admission requirements, as well as satisfactorily complete a required field experience (see #9 below).

Who should consider this program?

TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA is for eligible military personnel with bachelor's degrees who aspire to become secondary teachers in Texas. To determine if you are qualified for this program, please go to the Self-Determination Eligibility Guide.

TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA students engage in distance education graduate level education courses via the Internet. If you desire to become a teacher for students in grades 8-12 in Texas and to earn graduate credit, have a baccalaureate degree, a 3.00 GPA in the last 60 hours of your undergraduate coursework, and desire the convenience of a quality Internet-based program...then UTA's TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA is a program you should strongly consider. If you are a spouse of a member of the military, please see Spouses to Teachers. If you are non military, please see Initial Teacher Certification/Alternative Routes for more options within the College of Education.

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What are the Admission Requirements?

  • Bachelor's degree
  • GPA of 3.0 in the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework (as calculated by the Graduate School)

UTA Program Sequence

  1. Apply for Admission to UTA through the Graduate School as either a Special Student or degree seeking student. This includes:
    • Pay the required application fee.
    • Have official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended sent directly from those institutions to the UTA Graduate School.
    • Request that your official test scores from GRE be submitted to the UTA Graduate School.
  2. Upon receiving the Letter of Acceptance from the UTA Graduate School, contact a graduate advisor in the College of Education for registration clearance. Students must file a Content Declaration form (PDF) which specifies their background in their chosen teaching field. Students pursuing secondary certification must have at least 24 semester credit hours in one of the subject areas for secondary certification. Students without the required 24 hour subject area background will be required to complete those hours before taking the subject/content practice exam. See content areas.
  3. Register for course(s). Please note that all courses begin and end according to the UTA Academic Calendar (Fall, Spring, Summer).
  4. Students meeting the subject/content requirement must, upon enrollment in the first semester, register and successfully pass a subject/content practice exam.
  5. Register for the practice test for the content area TExES through the Certification Office.
  6. Depending on the student's score, additional subject/content courses may be required.
  7. After successfully passing the practice TExES, contact the Certification Office for a barcode to register for the TExES.
  8. Register for and take the TExES in the appropriate content area.
  9. To satisfy the practicum requirement, you must complete one of the following options:
    • a 12 week, full-time mentored practicum with a UTA approved partner school if seeking placement in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Application for placement must be made by October 1 for spring placement and March 1 for fall placement. Students seeking placement for the mentored practicum outside the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, must seek prior approval from the program director.
    • a full year of teaching experience as the teacher of record in the targeted area of certification on a probationary certificate at a TEA approved campus. This option can only be completed in Texas schools. A list of Texas schools approved by TEA for the probationary certificate year can be found at http://askted.tea.state.tx.us/tsd2005/tsd/TexasPublicSchoolsListing.pdf.
  10. Obtaining a probationary certificate for a full time teaching position at the level and in the content area in which the student is pursuing certification may be used in lieu of the 12 week supervised practicum. In all cases, students must register for EDUC 5315 in the first semester of their probationary teaching.
  11. To be eligible to proceed to practicum (residency), secondary certification students must have completed at least THREE of the following: EDUC 5310, EDUC 5314, EDUC 5329, and LIST 5326 OR 5345.
  12. All certification coursework must be completed by the end of the practicum semester.
  13. During the last semester of certification course work, make arrangements to take the practice test for Secondary PPR (Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities) TExES. A minimum of 80% on the practice test and attendance at a TExES review session are required before a student will be issued a barcode for the TExES exam.
  14. Upon completing the TROOPS TO TEACHERS AT UTA program coursework, passing the TExES PPR and content area exams, and completing a residency, apply for Teacher Certification through the Director of Certification in the UTA College of Education.
  15. Any military personnel using their GI Bill may receive reimbursement of their TExES test fees through the GI Bill. Please check with your VA Financial Officer.
  16. Any spouses of active duty, drilling reserve or Guard personnel or their spouses are eligible for a reimbursement of their TEXES test fees. Contact Dr. Hadaway for a Spouses to Teachers Registration and then return it along with a copy of the front of your ID card. We will then send you a voucher and reimbursement procedures to follow. For more information, call Meryl Ketler at 1-800-810-5484.

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Courses

Education (EDUC)
5314 Effective Classroom Instruction
5329 Classroom Management and Discipline
5310 Diverse Populations in Today's Schools
5315 Practicum

Literacy Studies (LIST)
5345 Content Area Reading and Writing
OR
5326 Secondary Language Arts Methods

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees may be determined by visiting Student Financial Services. Choose "Distance Education" for the semester you plan to enroll.

Tuition and fees vary according to student status. Your cost totals can be calculated based on the following classifications of residency:

  • Officially classified as a Texas resident
  • Classified as a student who lives in Texas, but is not a Texas resident
  • Classified as a non-resident of Texas receiving these electronic courses from outside of Texas.

Tuition and fees may change depending on the number of hours taken. The charges listed do NOT include course specific fees such as distance education fees or course fees. To see the fees attached to a specific course, carefully read the information about that course in the Schedule of Classes.

Military personnel may be eligible for special benefits. Please contact http://www.proudtoserveagain.com/ for more information and specific contact individuals.

Pay Fees Online

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Updated: 18 October 2007