PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This two-year program is designed specifically for TFA corps members teaching in Philadelphia public and charter schools. The primary purposes are to:

• Support classroom teaching in the content areas
• Enhance learning about urban education
• Provide theoretical and practical frameworks for understanding pedagogy, content, and urban students
• Develop ways to build positive and meaningful relationships with students, staff and parents
• Support TFA corps members as teachers who learn from each other, from other teachers, and from students
• Enable corps members to find ways to continue to support urban education whether they stay in teaching or go on to other careers

The courses in the GSE/TFA Urban Teacher Program build upon the knowledge and skills that TFA teachers acquire about teaching through TFA along with a broader concern for building a deep intellectual understanding of urban education. The courses are grounded in years of experience of practitioners, researchers, and theoreticians.

The program follows an executive model to allow TFA corps members to focus on their classrooms. Courses are held once a week and one weekend a month.

CERTIFICATION
All students who are not certified in an elementary or secondary content area will get certified in the area in which they are teaching when they have successfully completed the program with a 3.0 GPA and have passed the requisite Praxis exams. Certification requires seven courses over two years.

MASTER’S COURSES AND MASTER’S PORTFOLIO
Students who choose to receive a master’s degree take the seven certification courses plus three more courses, 10 courses, over two years. Students who are already certified can pursue a Master’s degree and should confer with the director of the program about courses.
Master’s and Certification students take the same courses for the summer, fall, and spring of the first year.

May and June, Year 1
Master’s students take electives during May and June of the first year. These are usually finished at the same time that the School District year is over. For example, the courses offered in 2007 were: Economics of Education; Multicultural Issues in Education; Education Law and Urban Education Reform.

Fall and Spring, Year 2
Master’s students take methods courses as weekend modules and seminar courses on Tuesday during the second year. The seminar courses are Inquiry into Practice and Inquiry into Policy. These courses offer ways to conduct research in classrooms and on an issue of importance to students in the educational field. Much of the work from these courses will eventually be incorporated into the Master’s portfolio.

Master’s Portfolio
Master’s students are required to complete a Master’s Portfolio at the end of April before graduation in May of their second year.

PENN MENTORS
Doctoral students work with this program as mentors. They all have experience teaching in urban classrooms, and some of them began their careers as TFA corps members. They are responsible for offering guidance in classrooms and completing the necessary observations and paper work for state certification.

APPLICATION AND ADMISSIONS

Applications are online at http://www.gse.upenn.edu/apply/form1.pdf.
All students are required to complete an application, a statement of purpose and provide three recommendations. Master’s students must take the GRE exam.

PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION
Dina Portnoy, Director
http://www.gse.upenn.edu/faculty/portnoy.html
3440 Market Street, Room 478
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215.746.4855
dportnoy@gse.upenn.edu

Karla Brown, Coordinator
3440 Market Street, Room 476
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215.746.4857
bkarla@gse.upenn.edu

FINANCIAL AID REQUIREMENTS
Year 1:
FAFSA form - www.fafsa.ed.gov
Stafford Master Promissory Note -
http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/loans/loans-MPN-instructions.htm
Entrance Interview-
https://host208.aessuccess.org/ECounsel/Counseling/Index.do
Perkins Master Promissory Note (Masters only)
A hardcopy is mailed to each student’s address.

Year 2 (Master’s only):
FAFSA-
www.fafsa.ed.gov