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Job-Embedded Practitioner Licensure

Job-Embedded Programs are available for individuals who are interested in becoming a teacher and have a Bachelor’s degree. These programs allow you to work – and get paid – as a teacher while completing Tennessee Department of Education’s requirements for Teacher Licensure. You can also earn your Master’s or Educational Specialist (EdS) Degree along with earning your teaching required credential (Most candidates finish the Master’s or EdS degree in two years). You have the option to begin courses before being hired as a teacher; however, you MUST be hired as a teacher and complete at least one year (10 months) of teaching full-time to complete this program. Courses for this program are offered 100% online and at times to accommodate a work schedule. After all documentation is received, then the Program Coordinator will review your application for admission.

To qualify for the Job-Embedded Program, you must meet the following criteria:

  • You must have a Bachelor’s Degree
  • Undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or above is preferred, but all who are interested in becoming a teacher are encouraged to apply.

Job-Embedded Programs are offered in the following subjects and grade levels:

  • Agriculture Education, 6-12
  • Art, K-12
  • American Sign Language PreK-12
  • Elementary Education, K-5
  • English, 6-12
  • English as a Second Language, PreK-12
  • School Librarian, Library Information Specialist, PreK-12
  • Mathematics, 6-12
  • Middle Grades, 6-8 Math and Science
  • Science (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science), 6-12
  • Social Science Education (History, Geography, Government, Economics), 6-12
  • Special Education: Interventionist K-8; Interventionist, 6-12
  • World Language (Spanish, French, Latin, German, Russian), PreK-12

All applicants will need to complete the following in order to be considered for admission to the JEP program. Read all directions before completing this application, and reach out to BeATeacher@utk.edu if you have any questions.

Application Process

  • Complete the Job-Embedded Practitioner Program Application
  • Apply to the UTK Graduate School
  • Submit a passing Praxis Content Area exam score if your major is not int he content area that you will be teaching.
    • Example: You have a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and you have been hired to teach Biology=No Praxis is needed for admissions.
    • Example: You have a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and you have been hired to teach Biology=Passing the Praxis Content Area exam score needed

Monitor your email for communication from the UTK Office of Professional Licensure (BeATeacher@utk.edu). Add this email address to your address book or “safe” list to ensure that emails will be received (and not sent to junk/spam boxes). Given the application deadlines, if we need to contact you for additional information, we ask that you respond quickly.

Please note that this application contains essay questions and a dispositional self-assessment.

The essay questions are as follows:

  1. Why do you think that you could become a successful teacher?
  2. Why have you chosen to enter this particular field of teaching?
  3. What experiences have you had with children and/or youth?

UT expects that the teacher candidate maintains Professional Competencies, Attitudes, and Dispositions (ProCADs) identified as essential to the teaching profession.  More information on the ProCADs expected of all teacher candidates can be found HERE. As a part of this application, you will complete a self-assessment relating to your professional competencies, attitudes, and dispositions.

After you have planned your essay responses and considered your ProCADS, click here to complete the Job-Embedded Practitioner Program Application.

To be admitted to the Job-Embedded Program, you must also be admitted to the UTK Graduate School. To apply, please click here.

Important Notes on Graduate School Application

  • You will be applying for a Distance Education program (not a campus-based program).
  • With the exception of the Agriculture Education and School Librarian (Library Information Specialist), all other programs will apply to the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, and Masters in Teacher Education – Practitioner Concentration.
  • You will need to follow the directions in the Graduate School application to submit official transcripts of ALL institutions that you have attended.

Please note that all inquiries regarding Graduate School admission need to be directed to the Graduate School. The Graduate School webpage has directions on how to check the status of your application here. If you need assistance or are having difficulty with your application to the Graduate School, please contact them directly by phone at 865-974-3251 or via this form.

School Librarian (Library Information Specialist) applicants should contact the department directly (Dr. Cindy Welch at cwelch11@utk.edu) for program admission information. Candidates to Agriculture Education may choose to apply at the undergraduate level and that application can be found here. For more information on the Agriculture Education program, you may contact Dr. Christopher Stripling at cstripli@utk.edu.

Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 49-5-5610 requires all students who wish to be admitted to teacher preparation programs to:

  • Sign an authorization and release form authorizing a qualified Tennessee licensed private investigation company by and on behalf of the board to complete a criminal history records check, and;
  • Agree to the release of all investigative records to the administrator of the selected teacher training program, and;
  • Supply a fingerprint sample and submit to a criminal history records check to be conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Intent to Hire – If you have a Job Offer from a school:

  • The local school agency verifies a criminal history records check conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in accordance with T.C.A. 49-5-5610 has been completed and the applicant has been cleared to be hired as a teacher of record. The local school agency verifies this requirement when submitting the applicant’s “intent to hire” form. For a copy of the “intent to hire” form, contact BeATeacher@utk.edu

 

If you are seeking admission to the JEP Program before being hired by a school district:

You will need to complete the Background Check and Fingerprint process through our program and must complete all items in the following order:

 

  • Once the authorization form has been submitted, you will receive an email with instructions to complete the Volunteer & Employee Criminal History System (VECHS) form.
  • Complete and Return your signed VECHS Form – Please print, sign, and resubmit as a PDF to gse@utk.edu.
  • Once the signed copy of the VECHS form is received then you will receive an email confirmation with these instructions to complete the fingerprinting process.

For admission into the Job-Embedded Program and for us to issue a TN practitioner license, you must submit documentation that you are proficient in the content area that you wish to teach. According to the TDOE, acceptable documentation is either a passing exam score OR a Major in the content area that you will be teaching.

 

Passing Exam Score: To verify your “content/subject area”, you will need to have a satisfactory score on the Praxis Content area exam for the license you are seeking. This website, https://www.ets.org/content/ets-org/language-master/en/home/praxis/tn/test-takers/plan-your-test/certification.html, provides the Praxis tests required for each specific licensure area that are options for the JEP program. Visit the ETS Praxis website for more information about Praxis tests and to create an account to register for tests, view test scores, and order test reports.

 

Please send a copy of your passing score report to beateacher@utk.edu.

 

After all documentation is received, you may be contacted regarding an Admissions Board Review. Many programs choose to interview applicants before granting an admissions decision. All decisions regarding admission to the Job-Embedded Practitioner program are made by a Board of Admission. If you have questions about this process contact BeATeacher@utk.edu

Please take note that the Job Embedded program is a collaboration between the University of Tennessee, The Tennessee Department of Education, and the school or school district where you are seeking employment. As such, there are multiple requirements that must be met. UT will do the best we can to help you meet all of these requirements, but we ask that you understand that many of these requirements are beyond our control.

 

For us to issue a TN practitioner license, you must submit documentation that you are proficient in the content area that you wish to teach. According to the TDOE, acceptable documentation is either a passing exam score OR a Major in the content area that you will be teaching.

 

Passing Exam Score: To verify your “content/subject area”, you will need to have a satisfactory score on the Praxis Content area exam for the license you are seeking. This website, https://www.ets.org/content/ets-org/language-master/en/home/praxis/tn/test-takers/plan-your-test/certification.html, provides the Praxis tests required for each specific licensure area that are options for the JEP program. Visit the ETS Praxis website for more information about Praxis tests and to create an account to register for tests, view test scores, and order test reports.

 

World Language JEP candidates can also elect to take Alta exams in lieu of praxis. The assessments are administered by the Tennessee Language Center, and candidates will need to go through the following to register: https://tfli.org/. Students need to take the (a) speaking/listening and (b) the written portion of these exams.

Candidates seeking Math 6-10 licensure also have the option to take the NES Middle Grades and Early Secondary exam.

More information about Praxis and other Assessments required by the TN State Board of Education please refer to the TN State Board of Education Policy 5.105: Professional Assessments for Tennessee Educators, https://www.tn.gov/sbe/rules–policies-and-guidance/policies.html.

In summary, being admitted to the UTK Graduate School and providing Official Transcripts + Admission to the Job-Embedded Program + Content Knowledge/Praxis + Intent to hire from a Local School = Practitioner Endorsement.  Please keep in mind, that there are additional state assessments that are required prior to program completion.

Students in the JEP program will be given a Plan of Study that will guide their timeline through the program. This Plan of Study will include the required Clinical Experiences, Core Educational Courses, and Specialty Area Courses that you will take to complete the program, as well as additional program requirements.

Specific program requirements can be found using the links below:

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