The Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship develops and supports a diverse cohort of future school leaders to expand educational equity for children in Metro Nashville Public Schools
Your experience leading classrooms has transformed you. You are passionate about expanding opportunities for children, and now you want to continue your impact as a school leader pursuing equity and accelerating change.
The Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship is a partnership between Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga and Lipscomb University to provide TFA alumni with the licensure, development, support, and network to pursue school leadership in our region’s largest public school district.
TFA Alumni have demonstrated what is possible for Nashville.
Today in Nashville, only 15% of students attend a school considered high performing, but Teach For America alumni are working with our community to reimagine opportunity. In the 2018 – 2019 school year, 8 out of 10 of the non-selective highest performing schools in Nashville were led by a Teach For America alumnus. As an organization, we believe that when kids have great teachers positive outcomes follow, but that isn’t enough. In order to enact true, lasting change we must address the systemic problems with systemic solutions. That solution begins with school leadership.
Build your leadership to expand your impact.
Entire schools and school systems have proven it’s possible to dramatically alter student outcomes when the right leaders are in place. The Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship aims to continue that legacy. Through the 2 year fellowship you will:
- Earn your administrator credentials and M.Ed. or E.Ds. through Lipscomb University, one of Tennessee’s top-rated educator preparation programs.
- Gain hands-on leadership experience developing teachers and driving student outcomes at Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga’s regional summer institute.
- Receive ongoing mentorship from experienced, effective school leaders, and receive career and job placement support in pursuit of leadership roles within Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Application Process
The application for the 2022 cohort of the Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship will open in January 2022. More details and dates will be available as the application window approaches.
- Application Deadline: March 2022
- Interview Dates: April 2022
- Notification of Acceptance: April 2022
- 2022 Fellowship Timeframe: May 2022 - May 2024
Candidates for the Fellowship should be eligible for hire by Metro Nashville Public Schools. Additionally, to be considered for the 2020 cohort of the Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship, you must:
- Have at least 4 full years of certificated teaching experience in Pre-k – 12 by Fall 2020.
- Provide demonstrated evidence of educator effectiveness (i.e. TEAM, LOE, TVAAS or other state or nationally normed evidence).
- Meet requirements for admission to Lipscomb University M.Ed. or E.Ds. programs.
- Commit to working at the Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga summer institute in 2021.
- Commit to pursue a full time mid-level leadership or an administrative position with Metro Nashville Public Schools for the 2021 – 2022 school year.
Fellowship Selected
Fellows are selected based on Teach For America’s core values and excellent schools framework and Lipscomb University’s College of Education leadership dimensions.
Learn and Develop
In Fall 2022, you’ll enroll in Lipscomb courses and earn your ILL-B by spring 2023.
Lead Leaders
Fellows will lead and develop new teachers at TFA’s 2022 summer institute.
Grow Your Impact
We support your pursuit of leadership roles within MNPS for the 2022 – 2023 school year.We support your pursuit of leadership roles within MNPS for the 2022 – 2023 school year.
The application for the 2022 cohort of the Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship is live and will close March 13, 2022. The link to the application can be found here.
2021 Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellows
Aspiring School Leader Fellow
Alexandra Ball
Mississippi Delta
07
Aspiring School Leader Fellow
Patrice Briscoe
Nashville-Chattanooga
18
Aspiring School Leader Fellow
Brittany Crawford
Indianapolis
14
Find all of our past fellowship recipients here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Strong applicants should meet the following requirements:
- You believe that potential is equally distributed along lines of race and class, but opportunity is not, and you are committed now and in the future to working toward educational equity
- You have demonstrated an ability to build successful, authentic relationships with adults and children from all walks of life regardless of age, income, class, race or gender
- You have already shown leadership capacity, have demonstrated ability to set and achieve ambitious goals, and having a passion for learning and developing others.
- You desire to lead in a traditional public school operated by Metro Nashville Public Schools
- By the time the cohort begins in fall 2020, you must have a valid Tennessee teaching license and have 4 or more years teaching experience
- Master’s in Education preferred, but not required
- Prior experience in teacher coaching or adult leadership preferred, but not required
The standard timeline for the Fellowship is based on the experience of a Fellow with a Master’s in Education. Fellows with a master’s degree will pursue an Ed.S. It is possible to complete the program on an adjusted timeline if you do not already have a master’s degree or if you already hold an administrative license. Contact Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga for more information.
This program is open to applicants of all preparation backgrounds. All applicants must exhibit Teach For America’s core values, and strive to be ambassadors of the Teach For America program at all times.
If you have already begun pursuing an administrator license in Tennessee or in another state, we can support you in determining the exact course progression that will support your degree candidacy.
Much like the corps experience, we cannot guarantee any participant’s placement. Teach For America and Lipscomb University work together to provide the education, mentorship, networking, hands-on experience, career and job placement support necessary to be a competitive applicant for mid-level school leadership, but MNPS principals make the final hiring decision for their school.
From August 2020 to December 2021, Fellows can expect 6 credit hours of graduate-level course work per semester. Classes begin in August 2020 and will meet approximately one weekend per month during the school year – usually Friday from 5 pm to 9 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm. Additional online work, field experiences, and collaboration with a mentor may be expected throughout the program. Fellows are expected to pursue a role with the TFA Nashville-Chattanooga summer institute, which will require full time work from late-May to mid-July 2021 and 4 weekend training days between February and May 2021. Additionally, Teach For America requires 2 to 4 evenings throughout the school year for professional development, networking, and mentorship.
Lipscomb University and Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga have made discounts and scholarships available for these aspiring school leaders. Fellows receive 40% discount off the tuition of the entire leadership program and are eligible for an additional scholarship of $4,000 after successful completion of year 1 of the Fellowship. Additionally, Fellows are compensated for institute work during spring and summer of 2021. Compensation for institute positions varies by role, but can range from $5,000 to $9,000 for spring and summer work.
The selection criteria for the Nashville Aspiring School Leader Fellowship includes Teach For America’s core competencies, core values and excellent schools framework; and Lipscomb University’s College of Education leadership dimensions.
Your application will include open-ended response questions, your resume, a statement of educator effectiveness, and references. We recommend candidates be able to clearly articulate their philosophy on education and why they aim to pursue school leadership within a district-run public school. Your statement of educator effectiveness should include TEAM evaluations, LOE, TVAAS, or other state or nationally normed evaluations.