TELS Certificate Levels
 
Tier I: TELS Enacter
TELS employs a mentored professional development model that allows teachers and researchers to form strong partnerships. Teachers who implement TELS projects work with a mentor to plan the project implementation, enact the curriculum, and reflect on inquiry-based teaching and student learning. Teachers who participate as TELS enactors must:
Attend planning meetings by participating in a TELS workshop or a school-based department meeting
Complete a TELS workshop WISE project OR Complete TELS Teacher Reflection project
Enact at least one project (with classroom observation)
Engage in post-enactment reflection via the TELS Teacher Reflection project or face-to-face interview
 
Tier II: Design Partner
All TELS projects have teacher partners who work with TELS design teams to conceptualize, design, and revise the projects. The design partnerships use the results from benchmarks administered to students in each TELS school to create projects that build on student ideas and meet the needs of students in the TELS schools. To participate in a design partnership, teachers must:
  Enact a project at least twice
  Provide feedback for customization
  Complete the TELS Teacher Reflection project
  Participate in post enactment reflection via the TELS Teacher Reflection Project or face-to-face interview
 
In 2004, 15 teachers attended the first TELS summer retreat and participated in TELS design partnerships. These teachers played a major role in shaping the TELS curricula. The following year, they used the first versions of the projects, provided feedback to guide revisions and often helped implement new versions. Some attended the second TELS summer retreat to assist in the customization and refinement of the projects. TELS teachers continue to participate in TELS retreats and work with the design teams to customize each project and refine it based on classroom experience. Teachers are pilot testing the SAIL platform and exploring ways to include adaptive formats within projects so that students who have difficulty making sense of material will have opportunities for additional practice and further reflection.
 
Tier III: Lead Teacher
TELS uses a just-in-time approach to professional development that provides varied levels of support depending on the school and teacher needs. In the future, we will seek to establish this professional development approach within schools by preparing lead teachers to mentor their colleagues so that more teachers can carry out TELS projects successfully. Our goal is to perfect this approach so that it can be deployed broadly and sustained by districts everywhere.