Metro RESA Alternative Certification Programs
The Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy (GaTAPP) is a job-embedded teacher preparation option for individuals who have the basic qualifications to teach early childhood, middle grades, secondary, CTAE, or P-12 education but have not completed a teacher preparation program or earned professional certification. The program is not intended to replace regular college teacher education programs. It is, instead, an alternative option for individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher but did not complete teacher education requirements as part of their degree programs.
GaTAPP equips teacher candidates with the skills to ensure a reasonable expectation of initial success in their classrooms and puts in place a supervised candidateship/induction program that will help them move toward subsequent mastery of teaching.
ALL GaTAPP programs are job-embedded and serve teachers who are employed as classroom teachers.
Metro RESA offers three different programs:
Comprehensive GaTAPP
The Comprehensive GaTAPP program is an 18 month-2 year job-embedded, hybrid program. Teachers in this program are employed as a “teacher of record” in the field of certification and have not earned a professional certificate in any field. All certification fields are served in the Comprehensive GaTAPP program.
GaTAPP Express
The GaTAPP Express program is an 11-month program for those who hold a provisional certificate and have a degree in the field of certification (I.e., hold a degree in Mathematics and teach high school mathematics). This program is not available for CTAE fields, Elementary Education, or Special Education.
One Year Pathway (OYP) Elementary Program
This one-year pathway program is designed for teachers who have already completed a certification program and hold a professional certificate, seeking to add the field of Elementary Education. Teachers who apply for this program must be employed as the teacher of record in an elementary classroom (PK-5) in a school that is Cognia accredited.
WHICH PROGRAM IS A MATCH FOR ME?
Please click below to determine which program is the most appropriate program based on your unique circumstances.
The application window for Comprehensive GaTAPP is open! The window is open from October 1, 2025, through June 20, 2026. Use this link to apply: https://metroresa.smapply.io/prog/GaTAPP2026
The application window for GaTAPP Express is now open! The window is open from October 1, 2025, through April 15, 2026. Use this link to apply:
Please Note:
The process for selecting potential candidates for Metro RESA GaTAPP is specifically designed for the METRO RESA AREA ONLY. Applicants will not find the specific requirements listed on any other website, including the GaPSC site. Most GaTAPP programs have specific requirements unique to their program.