Nashville Teacher Residency received a $240,000 grant from the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR) to expand and improve its efforts to recruit and develop Black teachers for Metro Nashville Public Schools. The award comes through NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative (BEI), a five-year, $20-million effort to recruit and train 750 new Black teachers through NCTR’s nationwide Network of teacher residency programs.  This is NTR’s 4th year as a recipient of this grant.

 

The grant will allow Nashville Teacher Residency to continue to create programming and supports that honor the dignity of our Black Residents as they develop into licensed teachers for Nashville’s schools. The BEI funds provide Residents with scholarships, affinity spaces, stipends, content development resources and are used to cover licensure exam fees. Additionally, NTR uses the funding to support our partner schools with the training necessary to create environments where Black Residents are respected, cared for, and valued. Nashville Teacher Residency is one of 27 residencies chosen to receive a 2022-2023 BEI grant to increase access to Black educators in their community. 

 

The majority of school children in the United States are students of color, yet less than 20% of teachers are people of color, and only 7% of them are Black. Research shows that students of color do better in school and consider going to college at higher rates when they are taught by teachers with similar racial and demographic backgrounds. NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative aims to improve student achievement by increasing access to Black teachers.

 

“Now more than ever, we need to focus on recruiting and retaining Black teachers to address the racial disparities within the national teacher workforce and to inspire students of color across the nation,” said Kathlene Holmes Campbell, NCTR’s CEO. “We are so proud to partner with Nashville Teacher Residency through NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative and look forward to working together to impact Black teacher residents and the communities they serve.”

 

Teacher residency programs have proven effective at recruiting and developing teachers of color. In 2020-2021, NCTR’s Network of partner residencies reported that 57% of their teacher residents identified as a person of color – surpassing the only 22% of teachers who identify as a person of color nationally.

 

Learn more about NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative at www.nctresidencies.org/black-educators-initiative.

 

You can read about the progress of BEI by reviewing the Black Educators Initiative Annual Report at https://bit.ly/3Q5E8Sh.