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Welcome to Theory and Practice in Teacher Education


The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s, Teacher Education Department

Advancing equity through excellence in education

As an education department at a land-grant institution, our mission is to benefit local, regional, national, and global communities by preparing teachers, educators and education researchers, and through our engagement in educational outreach.

 

Nearly 900

Teachers prepared by UT

Estimated 40,000Tennessee PreK-12 students taught by our graduates annually

Seventy-eight percentUT’s teaching graduates employed by Tennessee public schools in their first year

Over ninety percentOf these, teachers who continue in the public school system the following year


Eighty percentUT prepared teachers who continue to teach in Tennessee public schools for at least three years

Over ninety-five percentOf those who completed UT’s preparation program in the past three years said they agree/strongly agree that it prepared them for the teaching profession

Over ninety percentUT teacher graduates who, in the classroom, received ratings of level 3 (at expectations) to 5 (significantly above expectations) on the Teacher Level of Effectiveness scale

One hundred percentUT teacher and leadership candidates passed all required content area examinations for licensure (edTPA and Praxis School Leaders Licensure assessments)


Sources: 2021 Teacher Preparation Report Card; University of Tennessee, Knoxville  News, February 2021 


Our Degrees, Minors, and Areas of Study

Undergraduate Teaching Minors

American Sign Language; art education; English as a Second Language education; secondary English education; secondary social science education; VolsTeach math; VolsTeach science; world language education

Master of Science degrees in:

Applied Behavior Analysis; Educational Studies (non-licensure); Professional Internship (Post-Baccalaureate) (initial licensure); Practitioner (Job-Embedded Program) (Initial Licensure) (Distance Education)

Specialist in Education (EdS) degrees in:

Applied Behavior Analysis; art education; educational technology (available via distance education); elementary education; English education; literacy education; mathematics education; practitioner (available via distance education); science education; social science education; special education; world/ESL language education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in:

Special education / Deaf education / Interpreter education; Literacy Studies; Teacher education

Graduate Certificate / Additional Endorsement Programs in:

American Sign Language education; art education (K-12); Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (PreK-12); educational technology; elementary education; English as a Second Language (PreK-12); gifted education (PreK-12); literacy specialist; rehabilitation counseling for the Deaf; secondary English education; secondary mathematics education; secondary science education; secondary social science education; social justice education; special education comprehensive (K-12) and interventionist (K-8) & (6-12); STEM leadership; urban education; world languages (PreK-12)

Concentration and Specialization Areas of Study: 

  • elementary and secondary education – in several specialization areas, including: English, English as a Second Language (ESL), art, mathematics, science, social sciences, and world language education
  • audiology and speech pathology
  • cultural studies in educational foundations
  • Deaf studies: American Sign Language (ASL) education; education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; educational interpreting; and rehabilitation counseling for the Deaf
  • literacy education / studies: children’s and young adult literature; literacy education; literacy specialist
  • social justice education
  • special education (interventionist 6-12 and comprehensive K-12);
  • STEM education: educational technology; mathematics (including middle grades math); science (including middle grades science); STEM leadership; VolsTeach secondary (biology, chemistry, math or physics)

 

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