More than 6,000 of our alumni are currently making the decision to go beyond the call of duty by remaining in the classroom after their two year commitment is complete. These alumni teachers have been recognized as the best in their field, winning national and state teacher of the year awards, as well as Milken Educators Awards, Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science, and National Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellowships.
By 2015, the number of alumni in teaching will grow to over 11,000. The Teacher Leadership Initiative aims to help support this growing number of alumni teachers in their efforts by building partnerships that offer recognition for professional excellence, that provide the opportunity to impact education policy from the classroom, and that support them in improving their instructional practice
Resources
The Teacher Leadership Initiative aims to provide a diverse portfolio of supports and resources to our alumni teachers. Current resources include:
- Support for Alumni Seeking Professional Leadership Recognition: Alumni can access information and support around professional leadership awards and fellowship programs such as the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship, the Albert Einstein Distinguished Fellowship Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Education and the ASCD Young Educators Award.
- Support for Alumni Seeking National Board Certification: Alumni have the opportunity to learn best practices for National Board candidacy and find resources that may help with portfolio development and off-setting application fees.
- Comprehensive Teaching Resources: Through the Resource Exchange, a robust, fully searchable, user-rated collection of resources and strategies on TFANet, alumni can access lessons uploaded by corps members, staff, and alumni teachers, conduct online classroom visits, and listen to advice highlighting best practices.
- Support for Alumni Seeking to Advance Their Careers in Teaching: Alumni can upload their resumes to the JOB Teacher Leadership resume collection and use a searchable database of job postings to connect to schools that value their experience. Alumni can also connect Teacher Leadership and Master Teacher opportunities to our school partners, KIPP, Lighthouse Academy Charter Schools, and Achievement First. Alumni interested in developing their skills as Teacher Leaders can take advantage of our partnership with Leading Educators.
- Opportunities to Impact Education Policy: Through our partnership with Teach Plus, alumni can have access to webinars focused on teachers' roles in education policy, can share their thoughts on how to retain high-quality teachers, and connect with other teachers on LEE, our sister organization focusing on the intersection of education, policy, and advocacy.
- Access to Experienced Teacher Mentors: Alumni can connect with hundreds of experienced educators across the country, learn how they engineer successful classroom environments, overcome challenges and continue to achieve significant gains with their students.
Alumni Leading from the Classroom
Alumni in District or Charter Public Schools
Hundreds of alumni have been honored as teachers of the year at the national, state, district, and school level, including:
- Jennifer Coughlin (North Louisiana Corps '95): 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
- Stephanie Day (D.C. Region Corps '05): 2010 Washington, D.C. Teacher of the Year
- Kristen Edwards (Mississippi Delta Corps '00): 2009-2010 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow
- Sara Egli (Phoenix Corps '05) and Brian MacKenzie (Mississippi Delta Corps '96): 2009 Arizona Teacher of the Year semifinalist and finalist
- Robert Jeffers (Los Angeles Corps '02): Los Angeles Unified School District Teacher of the Year
- Eric Kinne (Rio Grande Valley Corps '01), Anne Claire Tejtel (Baltimore Corps '00), Kristina Walrath (Greater Philadelphia Corps '03): 2008/2009 Teaching Ambassador Fellows awarded by the U.S. Department of Education
- Kelly Langan (Chicago Corps '02): 2010 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year finalist
- Jeffery Li (New York Corps '03) and Casey Fullerton (D.C. Region Corps '02): 2008 American Stars of Teaching
- Emily Masengale (St. Louis Corps '06): 2009 St. Louis Public Schools Teacher of the Year, 2009-2010 Missouri Teacher of the Year finalist
- Elisa Schorr (Houston Corps '01): 2007 Milken Educator Award for Teaching
- Rachel Willis (Metro Atlanta Corps '04): 2009-2010 Atlanta Elementary School Teacher of the Year
Contact Us
To learn more about the Teacher Leadership Initiative or to learn how to partner with us, please contact teacherleadership@teachforamerica.org.
Overheard
"What do great teachers look like? They are passionate, they have high expectations — this is a calling, not a job."
Arne Duncan
United States Secretary of Education
Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching
In 2012, Teach For America introduced a new award recognizing alumni for excellence in teaching.
Learn about the 10 inaugural winners »
