Completing your residency at NTR does not yield a graduate degree. However, we are excited to have four partnerships with local, outstanding graduate schools of education. Through these partnerships, NTR graduates can continue their educational studies by pursuing one of these discounted Master’s degrees.
We’ve worked closely with the administration from these graduate schools to provide a pathway for NTR alumni to pursue a graduate degree upon completion of the NTR program. Each of the graduate schools will present their program offerings and requirements to the cohort in the spring of the residency year.
We encourage Residents to consider these programs as they further their education beyond their time with us. Additionally, these graduate programs accept our residency coursework for credit. Thus decreasing the cost and the number of courses that our alumni will take to complete their program.
Explore these Master’s programs below:
Residents attend NTR classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. These are technical, practice-heavy, NTR led teacher education classes in management, relationship building, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and Math, English Language Arts, or Science instructional methods that build on their work in schools.
During the 2024-2025 school year, Residents should expect to attend some classes virtually and some classes in person. Specific times will be determined later, however, Residents need to plan to be available between 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school year.
During class time, Residents are expected to be fully engaged. If it is a virtual class, Residents are expected to be in one space for the duration of class, with minimal interruptions. If class is in person, Residents will need to arrive on time and ensure that they have a plan for transportation and childcare for the duration of class time, if needed.
The application process begins with an online application. You can find the application here. After the application is submitted, candidates will be notified of their application status within two weeks. Selected candidates will then be scheduled for a phone interview and then a virtual group interview.
We are searching for passionate and diverse teacher candidates who want to impact greater
change within their school communities and in the lives of students. During the recruitment
process we assess candidates in the four categories outlined below:
Commitment - Are you passionate about teaching and learning? Do you display a growth mindset?
Critical thinking - Are you ready to take on content related challenges? Are you receptive and eager for feedback?
Teamwork - Do you work collaboratively with peers? When working in groups do you value the voice of others?
NTR mission alignment - Are you eager to engage in the work of honoring the dignity of every student in your classroom?
Upon successful review of an application, a candidate will be invited to a 15 minute phone interview. Selected candidates will then be asked to join for a virtual group interview. During the virtual group interview, candidates will have the opportunity to learn more about NTR, take part in thinking tasks that reflect NTR coursework, and provide a mini-lesson to show off their teaching skills.
Upon a successful completion of the interview, candidates who accept the invitation to join NTR will complete a mandatory internship. The NTR Internship is a period in which placement and program fit are determined. The Spring Internship, like our interview process, will be completely virtual this year. To complete the Spring Internship, Interns must complete two to three 1.5 hour virtual school site visits, four two-hour workshops with NTR, and a few online assignments.
NTR is an independent Education Preparation Provider (EPP) authorized to issue Tennessee teacher licenses. NTR does not bear a Masters Degree and is not sponsored by any college or university. However, we do have partnerships with local colleges and universities for alumni to continue their education and receive a masters degree at a fraction of the cost and time.
After you complete our program and earn your initial teaching license, you are able to add endorsements through the state which allow you to teach in different content areas than the one you were initially licensed in. Typically to add these endorsements, you need to take a Praxis exam in the content area in which you are trying to be endorsed in.
Upon completion of this program you will receive your official TN educator's license. As a NTR graduate, you'll receive a significant discount to your tuition to Lipscomb University where you can pursue your ESL endorsement. There are limited spots for this specific program. If you are interested, please note this on your application.