Hanns Michael Botz

Hanns Michael Botz received his Ed.D. from California Lutheran University. His dissertation focused on the use of a professional development tool, the tuning protocol, in conjunction with new teacher induction to promote collegiality and reflective practice.

Having worked primarily as a classroom teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District for thirty years, Dr. Botz continues to create opportunities for personal involvement with students. He volunteers one day each week in a first grade classroom. In addition, he works as a part-time professional expert for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Academic Decathlon.

Dr. Botz has over twenty years of experience in providing professional development to teachers at the school and district levels. He has taught courses in formative assessment, professional teaching portfolio development, and classroom organization and management. He has also conducted school district professional development in standards-based instruction and assessment, child abuse detection and reporting, bilingual education, and English language development. His later experiences include six years of recent involvement as a mentor, advisor, and administrator in the LAUSD Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) in the west San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California.

The University of Southern California developed the LAUSD program by which he attained his Bilingual Certificate of Competence in Spanish. Dr. Botz remains confident that this experience provided him with the proficiency needed to attain National Board Certification in English as a New Language.

Dr. Botz is passionate about facilitating the transformation of new teachers into accomplished educators. He believes that teaching is among the most vital and spiritual endeavors in this world. Dr. Botz applauds the decision of USC Teacher Candidates to enter this most challenging but rewarding vocation and remains committed to helping them reach their professional goals.