TACIT NEWS
from the desk of Kathy Deckard

Our first full cohort (2005-06) is about to embark on the final step of their journey toward ESL certification – the practicum.  During the practicum, they will all be pulling together “evidence” of their knowledge gained.  The standards that must be demonstrated can be found on the IPSB website: http://www.doe.state.in.us/dps/welcome.html (now this IDOE department is being called “Division of Professional Standards”). 

The practicum is the capstone course that will guide students through the process of assembling a portfolio which demonstrates the performance standards required for ESL certification.

For those of you beginning your practicum, good luck and please write comments and suggestions to us along the way.  This accelerated path to ESL certification is new, and we are always receptive to improvement suggestions.

For those of you in the ICP program, my advice to you is to save all of your ICP work!  Assignments from those courses will serve to demonstrate the performance standards you are required to demonstrate in your portfolio.

Our brand new cohort for 2006-07 is ready to go now.  They will begin their journey on the path to certification beginning in the Spring 2006 semester.  We will hold two ‘Orientation to TACIT’ sessions this year, either one of which participants may choose to attend.  The first one will be in the Washington Township Administration Building located in northern Indianapolis on December 6 th from 1 pm to 4 pm.  The second session will be held Friday, December 9, in our office suite here at Indiana University, Eigenmann Hall #521.  This session will also be from 1 pm to 4 pm. 

Remember to mark your calendars for the date that is best for you and get those subs! We will be sending invitations to the new TACIT cohort with more details.

The good news is that TACIT is proving to be a useful and positive experience for many teachers to improve their interactions and efficacy in dealing with the growing population of ELLs in Indiana.  The bad news is that it has become so popular that we are now full to overflowing for our 2007-08 cohort.  If you know of others who are interested in the program, please tell them to contact me immediately to be put on the list of applicants. 

Most likely, the 2007 cohort will be full, but it is a good idea to request a spot in the 2008 cohort now.  Also, if you are on the list, we can consider you if personal circumstances should happen to change for someone in the next 2007 cohort.

Remember to keep your grades up!  As TACIT is a grant program that provides funding for nine hours of graduate coursework, participation is becoming very competitive, and we are looking for individuals with a “B+” average or better.