TEACH/Here is a distinct and innovative teacher residency program aimed at improving the learning and life outcomes of students by recruiting, preparing, and supporting exceptional, effective teachers to serve in high needs positions. With a focus on science and mathematics, the program operates in Chattanooga and Knoxville, TN school districts in partnership with University of Tennessee Knoxville and the Public Education Foundation.

From the Blog:
Previous
05.10.10 | Program Manager job position is closed. TEACH/Here was hiring! We were looking for a ... Read More
04.16.10 | Urban League meeting We had a great time speaking to members of th... Read More
04.15.10 | Application deadline has been extended! TEACH/Here announced today that the resident ... Read More
04.07.10 | 3 Days Left to Apply! Only 3 more days until the application deadli... Read More
04.07.10 | TEACH/Here in the News Check out news articles featuring TEACH/Here.... Read More
Next

What's It About?

Program Overview

TEACH/Here is a new program that gets smart, motivated new teachers into Knoxville and Chattanooga classrooms where they’re needed most. Through teacher residencies, school districts and their partners recruit, prepare, and support highly effective teachers in high needs areas.This year, we’re looking for teacher residency candidates in science and math.


Teacher residencies are part of a national research-based movement that’s growing fast. The TEACH/Here residency program operates in Chattanooga and Knoxville school districts, in partnership with the University of Tennessee Knoxville and the Public Education Foundation in Chattanooga.

As a part of TEACH/Here, you’ll be part of a selective group of recent college graduates and young professionals. You and your fellow teacher residents will be assigned to Learning Academy public schools — where teaching and learning are state-of-the art and highly encouraged by strong administrators. You’ll work and learn alongside a skilled, trained mentor teacher four days a week for an entire school year. At the same time, you’ll also challenge yourself with rigorous master’s-level courses and take part in reflective seminars.

After you’ve earned your master’s degree and a Tennessee teaching certificate, you’ll go to work in a district school where your skills are needed most. You must agree to stay in your new classroom for at least four years, and you’ll continue to receive support from our induction program for new teachers and a peer network support group.

Mission & Goals

The mission of TEACH/Here is to improve the learning and life outcomes of students by recruiting, preparing and supporting exceptional, effective teachers to serve in high needs positions of the Hamilton and Knox County, Tenn., school districts. Our mission is to improve learning and lives of students by making sure they have great teachers. It’s that simple, but it depends on people like you.

Here’s how we plan to do it:

  • Recruit very smart, highly motivated and diverse college graduates and young professionals or mid-career changers; then select those who have the attitude, background and potential to help tackle our districts' needs in math and science.
  • Identify our existing math and science teachers who’ve shown they know how to help students learn and engage them as mentor teachers for our residents.
  • Place our residents in schools led by skilled principals, where there is a commitment to teacher and student learning and where classrooms are vibrant and inviting. (We call these Learning Academies.)
  • Develop and offer a curriculum of master’s level courses and in-school reflective seminars.
  • Place teachers who complete the residency program in schools where they’re needed most, and give them support that helps them launch their careers as great teachers.
  • Make sure people and businesses throughout the community are excited about this program and eager to show their support.

Vision

Soon, every student will come to school each day with the expectation that s/he will be thrilled, challenged, prodded and deeply engaged in meaningful learning work – and confident that s/he will graduate from high school ready for success in college, in a career and as a contributing citizen. Every student will be able to credit the teachers who guided him or her along this path. Because, for high level learning to happen, good teaching is the key ingredient!

Core Beliefs


  1. The purpose of schools is high level student learning. Exceptional levels of learning are possible for any student, and must be expected for every single student, no matter what his or her family, community, economic, language or other circumstances.
  2. To help students learn to high levels, we must eliminate barriers. Currently one of the biggest barriers is the shortage of skilled, passionate, effective teachers in every subject, every classroom, every day. We must assure high quality teachers for all students, in all schools.
  3. Great teachers have more than a paper degree. Teaching is a mix of skill, knowledge, disposition, passion and determination. Good teachers don’t make excuses. They make a difference.
  4. Ongoing learning and sharing is vital to great teaching. One-on-one or in small groups, the best teachers learn by observing, trying, reflecting, talking, and then starting the cycle again.
  5. Teachers learn best where teaching and learning are prized. Great schools are guided by great principals, who aim to coach every teacher, challenge every student and partner with every family.
  6. What we teach must be relevant and useful in today’s world, if students are to be successful in life. In particular, courses in math, science, and foreign languages must be particularly rigorous and stimulating. Rather than simply teaching facts, we must cultivate problem-solving, creative initiative and student curiosity.

If you also believe these statements to be essential to successful schools, then teaching may just be the perfect career for you. And a TEACH/Here residency is the perfect way to get a head start.

Who Should Apply?

TEACH/Here is designed for those persons who want to become exemplary teachers of science or mathematics, serving middle and high school students in priority schools within one of two public school districts that are on the cutting edge of reform in Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tennessee. We seek applicants who have demonstrated excellence in professional and/or academic endeavors and are eager for culturally diverse challenges. Applicants may be recent college graduates, career changers or others working in educational settings but desiring to become certified and fully prepared for a teaching career.

Minimum Requirements for Applicants

  • Undergraduate degree and strong content knowledge in math, engineering or one of the sciences, from an accredited college or university, received by June of the year of application
  • Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0
  • US citizen or with permanent resident status
  • Submit passing score from TN state content examination (Praxis II) - you may apply without a passing score, but a passing score will be required before you can be placed in a Learning Academy
    click here for info on how/where to apply to take this test

Attributes Desired in Applicants

  • Strong oral and written communication skills
  • High level of maturity and personal responsibility
  • Skills in collaboration, experience working and leading in complex environments
  • Self- reflective, willing to examine and adjust personal beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning
  • Resilient, perseverant, resourceful, flexible, compassionate
  • Knowledge and experiences using math and science in relevant, real life contexts
  • From diverse backgrounds and/or lived experiences

Convictions Sought in Applicants

  • Commitment to teach in a priority public school and engage with families in high need communities for at least five years (four years beyond the one year of residency)
  • Commitment to hold high expectations and address the learning needs of ALL students
  • Commitment to public education as a way to achieve the goal of equity and social justice for all children
  • Commitment to becoming an effective and resourceful teacher

Why Apply?

Why You Should Apply

TEACH/Here provides:

  • An affordable route into teaching - A low-cost master’s degree with benefits to help pay back the tuition
    - A stipend to cover living expenses
    - No program costs IF you teach in the district for 4 years after the residency year
  • An innovative route into teaching - Learn from leaders at leading public schools
    - Study with the best faculty at UT Knoxville
    - Deepen your subject matter knowledge and your teaching expertise
    - Learn and reflect together with your peers
  • A foundation for a successful career - Receive ongoing mentoring support and a stipend through your critical first years
    - Form lasting allegiances as part of an ongoing network
  • A chance to be a part of positive change!

TEACH/Here is the only multi-city teacher residency program in the Southeast endorsed by UTRU.

    Benefits of TEACH/Here

    TEACH/Here is a hybrid of university-based and alternative routes to becoming a teacher. As a result, Teach /Here candidates receive the best of both kinds of program: rigorous content and pedagogy preparation from the state’s premier research university AND a full year of a classroom-based apprenticeship under the tutelage of a trained and highly effective mentor teacher, serving with a cohort of other residents within a specially chosen Learning Academy School.

    As part of TEACH/Here, you will:

    • Earn a Tennessee certification for teaching in middle/secondary math or one of the sciences in only one year
    • Earn a master’s degree in Teacher Education from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 13 months
    • Receive a substantial stipend during the residency year plus a stipend (in addition to your teaching salary) during the subsequent four years of service in the district
    • Be guaranteed placement by the school district in your area of teaching certification
    • Enter the school district at a higher salary level than traditional new teachers
    • Receive an education award for non-tuition expenses
    • Receive loan forgiveness for the costs of the program by serving in the district for four years
    • Receive health insurance through UTK

    How It Works

    TEACH/Here Resident Selection Process

    • TEACH/Here Resident application window will open Monday, March 1st and close at noon on Thursday, April 22.
    • Complete and submit the online application.
    • Resident Selection Day is May 21st.
    • Twenty Residents total will be selected: 10 for Hamilton County Schools and 10 for Knox County Schools.
    • 2010-2011 Cohort TEACH/Here Teacher Residents will be announced May 24th.

    Contact for questions:

    Cheri Dedmon Director TEACH/Here
    Public Education Foundation
    888 588-7914

    Calendar for TEACH/Here 2010-2011 Cohort

    • Term Resident Dates Coursework Focus
    • Summer Component 1 June 14 - July 30, 2010 Building the Foundation for Learning
    • School Year Component August 2, 2010 - May 27, 2011

      (follow HCDE and KCS school calendars)

       Designing, Teaching, and Assessing for Learners
    • Summer Component 2 June 13 - July 29, 2011 Reflection and Assessment of Progress-Preparing for YOUR Classroom

    Course Schedule

    Residents take a TEACH/Here course one afternoon per week (Monday-Thursday) for three hours (3:30 - 6:30) throughout the school year. In addition, Residents attend a full-day seminar (from 8 am to 4 pm) each Friday during the school year (excluding holidays as per the school calendar). Residents will attend a one week intensive inter-session schedule during October in which they will attend class full time at the beginning of their practicum.

    Residency Schedule

    Residents work in schools four days per week throughout the school year. Residents maintain the same schedule as their Mentors and should arrive at their host school with enough time to prepare for the day. It is important that Residents remain flexible about the schedule. There will be times when opportunities or responsibilities change the schedule (for example, parent conferences, professional development opportunities, etc.).

    FAQ

    General FAQ

    • What is "teacher residency"?
      Teacher residency is an exciting new concept in teacher recruitment, preparation, and support. It is an effective method of recruiting teachers for hard-to-fill positions and giving them a strong year of “on-the-job” training, similar to a medical residency, so that they can hit the ground running when they become responsible for their own classrooms. It works to prepare a new kind of teacher from inside the classroom.
    • How is a teacher residency different from other teacher preparation programs?
      Residencies differ from both traditional teacher preparation and from “quickie” alternative routes in several ways but most primarily in whom they recruit; where and how long the teacher is prepared; and how the newly graduated teacher is supported and retained by the school district.
    • Why will a teacher residency program be successful at finding good math teachers when existing programs have not?
      We’re looking for individuals who love math and science. Given those interests, such individuals typically pursue math and science in college rather than a teaching degree. But it’s often the case that they decide they’d like to share this love of math and science with children. Currently they can do that through an alternative teaching certificate, but this route essentially throws them into sudden, full responsibility for a classroom with very little preparation – and they have to go to school at night to gain certification, at the same time that they are wrestling the challenges of classroom planning, grading papers, and learning how to teach! The difficulties of this approach are a deterrent to many people. Teacher residency offers a much stronger method of giving a teacher the training, experience and support needed to take effective responsibility for a classroom.
    • How many teachers will be trained per year by Teach/Here?
      We hope to prepare 20-40 new math and science teachers in the first year, and grow that number each year if we have adequate funding. In time, we hope to add teachers for other high need areas like special education and high-poverty elementary schools.
    • How many of these will be in Knoxville, and how many in Chattanooga?
      We expect to prepare an equal number in each location, i.e. 10-20 in Chattanooga and 10-20 in Knoxville. In time the number and types of teachers prepared may vary in the two locations based on the critical needs in each respective district.
    • How will residents be recruited and selected?
      The program will hire a recruiter who will visit college campuses, meet with businesses that are looking for opportunities for some of their career changers, use online job sites and social marketing tools like Facebook, and go the usual routes of job fairs and traditional recruiting methods.
    • How will the Learning Academy Schools be selected?
      The TEACH/Here Design Team for each school district will review school performance data, assess which schools have a critical mass of teachers who have the potential to be mentor teachers, and visit with principals and faculties. The program seeks to place residents in cohorts of 3-6 in each Learning Academy School.
    • Where will graduates of this program be placed? How do I get one of them in my school?
      At the end of the residency year, the program will work with the HR department of the school district to place the graduates in teaching positions where there are critical needs for their skills. We hope to be able to place them in groups of 2-3 if possible. If the program continues long enough, there could be enough TEACH/Here graduates to meet demand in all schools.
    • How will "critical needs" be determined?
      That’s something that will be worked out in the planning year of the grant, but think about the possibilities: if we train 20 teachers a year for 5 years, that’s 100 strong new teachers who will be taking math and science positions across our district. Over time, this has the potential to help every school, and to expand to different areas of need, as well. It will make a real difference for our entire school district.
    • What is the role of UT Knoxville?
      UT Knoxville will work with the TEACH/Here Steering Committee to plan rigorous courses that the residents will take during the summer and all year and to help think about the in-school component of the curriculum. Course delivery will be in each location using regular and adjunct faculty and via online and video-conferencing. UT Knoxville will confer the master’s degree to all successful graduates as they complete the program.
    • What is the role of PEF?
      PEF serves as the coordinating nonprofit group and as the fiscal agent for other private funding sources. The Teach/Here director and the recruiter will reside at PEF. Later Knoxville may choose to hire its own local director, as well.
    • What evidence do you have that makes you think this program will have a positive impact on student test scores?
      In the three cities where the prototype teacher residency programs are located (Boston, Chicago and Denver), they have retention rates among their graduates of 90-100%. This means that students do not suffer the effects of a revolving door of coming-and-going new teachers. And it means that these new teachers have an opportunity to reach their full potential of expertise – which, according to research, happens after the third year – without burning out. Also, in these three cities the schools in which the residency graduates are placed have shown above average achievement gains. In fact, in Chicago it is graduates of the AUSL teacher residency program who are staffing many of the “turnaround schools that have been highly effective at improving student achievement.
    • Can teachers of English or social studies enter the residency program?
      We will seek candidates for the program only in math and science, in the first year. With available funding and based on school district need, we hope to expand to include teachers to fill other positions that are typically hard to fill; this could include certain other subject areas, elementary schools, and special education.
    • Since it's focused on math and science, does that mean it won't include elementary teachers?
      We hope to include in the program candidates for positions in the upper elementary grades where there is a need for strong math teachers.
    • Could someone graduate from a teacher training program and still go into your residency program?
      We do not anticipate having applicants who have already completed a traditional teacher education program. We will assess all applicants on a case by case basis.
    • How will TEACH/Here be evaluated?
      The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies is the designated evaluator for the NSF grant. Additionally, TEACH/Here will be part of a national evaluation study conducted by the Urban Teacher Residency United group to review indicators of success in all teacher residency programs across the country.

    Apply To Become A TEACH/Here Resident

    The 2010-2011 application season has closed. The 2011-2012 application process will begin in the fall. In the meantime, join our email list to stay updated on the latest news and events from TEACH/Here or contact us with any questions.

    Contact Us

    TEACH/Here

    100 East Tenth Street, Suite 500
    Chattanooga, TN 37402

    888 588-7914
    info@teachhere.org

    CONNECT WITH US

    Facebook Linkedin Linkedin
    Contact Confirmation
    * required field

    Partners & Resources

    The Partnership

    • Knox County Department of Education

      The Knox County Schools will be a system where all students achieve at high levels and every school is a school of distinction. Children will begin their education at an early age, and high quality instruction, rigorous curriculum, and high standards will permeate the educational landscape from early education to graduation.

      Visit Website
    • Hamilton County Department of Education

      Our mission at Hamilton County Schools is to educate all students to their highest potential. We believe in success for all students and have turned the corner in student achievement. We continue to focus on helping students succeed, enhancing staff development and increasing community support. In doing so, we are investing in the future of Chattanooga and Hamilton County.

      Visit Website
    • University of Tennessee Knoxville

      The University of Tennessee Knoxville intends to be the preeminent public research and teaching university linking the people of Tennessee to the nation and the world.

      Visit Website
    • Public Education Foundation

      The mission of the Public Education Foundation (PEF) is to improve student achievement in Hamilton County public schools so that all students succeed in learning and in life.

      Visit Website

    Affiliates

    • Urban Teacher Residency United

      By preparing a new kind of teacher inside the classroom – providing the practical learning, the hands-on experience and the support network they need to be effective right away – Urban Teacher Residency United (UTRU) and its local programs are building a real movement for education reform from the ground up.

      Statistics show that 85% of all Residency graduates stay in their schools beyond those crucial first three years, reducing the high teacher turnover rates that cost districts millions and leave students in the dark.

      Visit Website

    About Chattanooga

    Chattanooga

    Chattanooga is located in Southeast Tennessee near the border of Georgia at the junction of four interstate highways. The city has received national recognition for the renaissance of its beautiful downtown and redevelopment of its riverfront. The city is notable for leveraging development funds through effective public/private partnerships with significant civic involvement on the part of private foundations. Chattanooga was one of the first US cities to effectively use a citizen visioning process to set specific long-range goals to enrich the lives of residents and visitors.

    Area Attractions

    Attractions such as the Tennessee Aquarium, Lookout Mountain, Civil War battlefield sites, the African American Museum, the Creative Discovery Museum for children, and the Appalachian Trail bring thousands of people to the area, as do events like the Riverbend Festival and the Southern Writers Conference.

    Chattanooga Links

    City Guide

    Attractions

    Media

    About Knoxville

    Knoxville

    Knoxville is the oldest and the third-largest city in the state of Tennessee. Nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains along the Tennessee River, it is within a day's drive of many major metropolitan areas, including Atlanta and Chicago. Knoxville boasts a vibrant history that has been captured in the works of nationally renowned poets, writers, and artists. Knoxville is also the home of the University of Tennessee's flagship campus. The university's sports teams, called the Volunteers or Vols, are extremely popular in the surrounding area.

    Area Attractions

    Attractions such as the Knoxville Museum of Art and festivals such as the Dogwood Arts Festival, Sundown in the City and the Rossini Festival bring visitors to the area throughout the entire year.  Several greenways, state parks and nearby Dollywood and other attractions in the mountains of East Tennessee provide several ways to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

    Knoxville Links

    City Guide

    Attractions

    Media

    // TeachHere analytics code