Nashville classes will be taught next school year by a slew of new-to-the-profession teachers, courtesy of several programs designed to attract newcomers to education. The state Department of Education has announced that participants in the Teach Tennessee program will join the crowd this fall.
Teach Tennessee is a statewide, Department of Education-run program that draws mid-career professionals, retirees and others to teach math and science classes. The program will train its seventh class this summer, and will deploy 36 teachers from 20 Tennessee counties into classrooms this fall.
Three Davidson County residents have been accepted to the program, and will apply for public school jobs at the end of this summer. Teach Tennessee teachers, if hired by Metro Nashville Public Schools, will join the larger number of non-traditional teachers set to be trained by Teach for America and the New Teacher Project. Teach for America and New Teacher Project teachers debut in Nashville this fall.
This year’s class of Teach Tennessee “fellows” includes an engineer, a banker, a veterinarian, and other professionals. The program works specifically to train math and science teachers.
“As we implement the Tennessee Diploma Project this fall, and increase math and science graduation requirements, it will be imperative that we get more math and science teachers into the classroom,” said DOE Commissioner Tim Webb in a statement. “Teach Tennessee is a program that helps us do just that.”
Teach Tennessee provides a path to licensure, but does not guarantee job placements. Program participants pay the fees associated with any college credit courses they will be expected to take, as well as the cost of licensure exams.
Visit tn.gov/education/teachtn for more information about the program.