Teacher Preparation Program Overview

The teacher preparation program at Touro University’s College of Education integrates coursework and clinical field experiences, including supervised teaching, into comprehensive instructional blocks. During the completion of the instructional blocks, candidates have opportunities to build and demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities in the domains essential to effective teaching and to develop their professional identity.

The Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA), a four task summative assessment that is completed during the instructional blocks, documents Single Subject and Multiple Subject candidates’ attainment of the professional competencies necessary for a credential. These competencies are delineated as a set of Teaching Performance Expectations developed by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC). In each instructional block, candidates should be able to clearly see how the coursework and fieldwork assists them in meeting the TPEs.

Education Specialist candidates demonstrate their abilities and competencies by completing a portfolio which includes assignments, position papers, reflection papers, supervised teaching evaluations, and classroom materials developed throughout the preparation program. The portfolio is evaluated by the candidate's advisor prior to recommendation for the Education Specialist/Special Education Teaching Credential.