Teach for America Nashville: Building a pipeline of teachers and leaders
Teach For America (TFA) seeks and supports an outstanding and diverse network of leaders who commit to expanding educational opportunities for all children. By recruiting high-achieving, passionate college graduates into Nashville classrooms, TFA bolsters the teacher candidate pool and builds a pipeline of local leaders to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of high-need school communities.
TFA partners with Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) and supplies nearly 70-90 teachers to the city each year. TFA and MNPS work together to combat the local teacher shortage throughout the school year and even into the summer. Through MNPS summer programs and camps, TFA teachers help students with credit recovery, remediation and enrichment opportunities.
On the 2018 Tennessee State Board of Education Teacher Preparation Report Card, TFA was one of eight teacher preparation programs to receive a top ranking.
The Scarlett Family Foundation provides funding to TFA in order to allow more students to have access to great teachers every year. With a current corps member and alumni network of 1,000 teachers and leaders in the Nashville area, TFA also cultivates a group of advocates determined to see that every child has access to a high-quality education.
Through its focus on high quality teachers, effective school leaders, equal access to summer learning, and education policy experts who are energized to advocate for all students, TFA helps Nashville students reach their fullest potential in high school, college, and beyond.
Lipscomb University School Leadership Program: Preparing Future Principals to Lead High-Quality Schools
Just like any business or organization, high-quality schools need effective leaders. Yet each year, the State of Tennessee faces the challenge of filling roughly 270 school leader positions. That means 15 percent of school leadership positions turn over annually. To help our schools, teachers, and students succeed, our state must recruit and retain more quality leaders.
That’s why The Foundation is helping to fund scholarships for aspiring school leaders to participate in the Ayers Fellows Program at Lipscomb University. The two-year program is built around 31 research-based competencies and best practices in principal leadership preparation.
In addition to earning a Master of Education (M.Ed.) or Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree in Educational Leadership, high-caliber aspiring school leaders develop and master these competencies and benefit from mentoring relationships and district clinical experiences with current administrators. These partnerships allow fellows to connect their coursework directly into real-world work and learn from seasoned professionals about leading schools and districts.
Graduates are equipped to be transformational leaders in their districts and make an impact. As of 2017, 50 percent of graduates have already been promoted to full time principal roles— including 6 counties in middle Tennessee.
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