General Information
UT-PLAYS Program Information
UT-PLAYS is a non-credit bearing program leading to Special Education Comprehensive K-12, Interventionist K-8, Interventionist 6-12, Mathematics 6-8 or Mathematics 6-12 licensure/endorsements. The UT-PLAYS 2023-2024 cohort is grant funded by the Tennessee Department of Education and is being offered by The University of Tennessee Knoxville. All UT-PLAYS programs are fully online and asynchronous.
Program Eligibility
UT-PLAYS additional endorsements programs are open to any Tennessee educator who (a) holds an active academic teaching license in the state of TN and (b) is currently employed by a TN school system. Unfortunately, school services personnel and occupational licenses are not eligible for our add-on endorsement program.
UT-PLAYS initial licensure programs are open to individuals with a desire to become a K-12 educator who have a 4-year degree. Individuals who wish to participate in the Grow Your Own Apprenticeship program will also need the support of a partnering school district and qualifying employment.
Special Education Program Requirements
UT-PLAYS Special Education has designed our program with working educators in mind. All learning will take place online, asynchronously via Canvas Catalog at a time that works for you. Each program is comprised of:
9 asynchronous learning modules
Each module takes approximately 10-15 hours to complete and may be stopped and started at any time. Total time to complete the Comprehensive K-12 or Interventionist K-8/6-12 program is approximately 100 clock hours. Our dual enrollment program takes approximately 145 clock hours to complete.
Brief assessments of learning following each lesson with instant feedback and opportunity to retake quizzes, if necessary, to earn a passing score of 90% or better and advance to the next module.
Competency-based clinical experience activities
Special Education Clinical Experience Activities
Participants in our special education programs will complete focused clinical experience activities throughout their time in our program. The activities are designed to target important knowledge and skills required of special educators while accommodating busy teacher schedules. Some examples of activities include: attending an IEP meeting, attending an eligibility or re-evaluation meeting, and conducting Q&A with a special education teacher.
Program Differentiation
Teachers who enroll in one of our special education endorsement programs and who hold an active special education license may be eligible for program differentiation with one or more learning modules waived.
Timeline
While participants are welcome to work through each module at their own pace, all program requirements for the 2023-2024 cohort must be completed by the end of June 2024. To help you stay on pace, each program has a recommended timeline that is available to participants upon registration.
Professional Development Points
UT-PLAYS is non-credit bearing. Participants will earn TDOE approved micro-credentials (worth 6 PDPs each) upon successful completion of each learning module.
Program Enrollment
To register for any UT-PLAYS programs, go to our enrollment page by clicking "Apply Here" on the menu above. Once you have registered, UT-PLAYS will verify that you hold an academic TN teaching license. Once verified, UT-PLAYS will send out program enrollment information. Please note, this program is currently funded through June 2024. We anticipate offering a low cost cohort for the 2024-2025 school year. If you are interested in enrolling for the 2024-2025 school year, feel free to register and your name will be added to a waiting list. We will contact you when we have updates.
Program Options
To learn more about each of our programs, please click on the link for each program below.
