Nashville-Chattanooga
About Us
When diverse, dynamic people come together, incredible things can happen—Nashville is proof of it. Teach For America began our partnership with the Nashville community in 2009. Since that year, we have recruited and trained well over 800 teachers for high-need Nashville classrooms. As we enter into our second decade in the city of Nashville, our alumni and corps members continue to serve at the forefront of change.
While Teach For America is only just beginning its first decade in Chattanooga, Tennessee alumni have influenced the city for years. Jill Levine, a 1992 New Orleans alumnus, serves as the Chief of Innovation and Choice for Hamilton County Public Schools. Jill previously led the Opportunity Zone in Chattanooga, a group of 12 of the city’s highest needs schools. Alumni in Chattanooga lead in the classroom, school leadership, district leadership, and across a variety of sectors.
Through the development and support provided by Teach For America, corps members have been found by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to be among the most effective teachers in the state year over year. The report also notes that Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga teachers are more racially and ethnically diverse than the statewide average.
For long-term change to take effect, we are working to create a movement of individuals committed to collective impact with students.
Where We Work
In many ways, Nashville is a tale of two cities. On the one hand, Nashville is famous for its world-class music, food, and arts scene. We’re sometimes called the “Athens of the South” given our incredible local institutions of higher education, including a plethora of iconic historically Black colleges and universities, and we’re experiencing unprecedented economic and population growth. On the other hand, grave inequity persists here. Our economically disadvantaged students have an average ACT score of 17, and we have one of the biggest achievement gaps in the country when compared to the U.S’s 100 biggest cities. In short, far too often, demography predicts destiny for Nashville’s children. We view this as the moral crisis of our time.
Chattanooga
Chattanooga
Often referred to as “Scenic City” for its rivers, mountains, and trails, Chattanooga is a city experiencing tremendous population growth. With a revitalized waterfront area and a billion-dollar investment in downtown, Chattanooga is attracting young professionals, innovators, and the most creative minds from across the country. Home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the fastest internet service in the western hemisphere, a thriving innovation business district, and a booming downtown along the Tennessee River, Chattanooga has a lot to offer. It also has a widening educational equity gap experienced by students along lines of race and class. The average ACT score for economically disadvantaged students in Chattanooga is 17, and 60% of Chattanooga third graders do not read on grade level. The effects of systemic poverty and institutionalized racism continue to impact Chattanooga and its residents.
One Vision, One Region
Despite the challenges that both communities face, at TFA Nashville-Chattanooga, we know there is another way. Our TFA network in Nashville-Chattanooga now numbers over 1,000. Our nearly 500 corps member and alumni teachers score among the highest in the state year over year in leading their students to incredible academic growth. Our 26 public school principals lead some of the most game-changing schools in the state. For over a decade, Teach For America has expanded opportunities to students and families in Nashville and will leverage that decade’s long history to support students and families in Chattanooga.
Training, Certification, and Graduate Programs
We partner with two certifying bodies, Lipscomb University and Relay Graduate School of Education. Please note that some school placements require corps members to attend one certifying partner or the other. More information will come as the hiring season progresses.
In order to be qualified to teach, Nashville-Chattanooga corps members must complete the following requirements:
- Pass content-specific Praxis exams during the school year (certification test passages is not required prior to the beginning of the hiring process).
- Take a minimum of two semesters of courses offered through our university partner, Lipscomb University, in order to receive a transitional teaching license OR participate in Relay Graduate School of Education’s certification program*.
- Corps members who teach SPED are required to earn a Master’s over a 2-year period
Lipscomb University courses are specifically designed by the university, in collaboration with Teach For America, to meet the needs of corps members.
Relay GSE’s program is a unique, rigorous teacher training program designed specifically to respond to today’s urgent demand for effective teachers in low-income communities.
*Certification requirement varies based on placement site. Corps members must complete all licensure requirements through our certification partners.
Corps members have the option to earn a Master’s Degree in Education from Lipscomb University or a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education.
Join Us
Nearly
200
TFA teachers in Nashville and Chattanooga.
Over
1K
total TFA alumni in our area.
More than
90%
of our alums continue to work with low-income communities.
Nearly
200
TFA teachers in Nashville and Chattanooga.
Over
1K
total TFA alumni in our area.
More than
90%
of our alums continue to work with low-income communities.
Our Alumni
More than 90 percent of TFA Nashville-Chattanooga alumni continue to work with low-income communities and over 70 percent continue serving in education—there are almost 200 alumni teaching in classrooms across Nashville and Chattanooga, more than 25 school principals, and over 40 alumni in school leadership positions.
We help fuel the leadership of our alumni in schools with the Nashville Aspiring School Leaders Fellowship, a partnership with Lipscomb University that provides alumni with the licensure, development, support, and network to pursue school leadership in our region’s largest public school district.
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