Why should I join the Detroit Alumni Educator Fellowship?
Join a community of dedicated educators committed to continuing their growth as leaders in their school communities and the city of Detroit.
Learn through dialogue and collaboration centered on authentic and impactful leadership, culturally responsive pedagogy, and systems impact.
Deepen your understanding of yourself, others, and the context in which you lead through experiences in diversity, equity and inclusion training
Remain connected to the Teach for America community while continuing to build your network with fellow educators and advocates for educational equity throughout Detroit.
Remain connected to the Teach for America community while continuing to build your network with fellow educators and advocates for educational equity throughout Detroit.
How long is the Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship commitment?
Fannie M. Richards educator fellows must complete their two year commitment in their Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship placement school.
How often does the fellowship meet?
The fellowship cohort will meet as a whole group quarterly for professional development workshops and will meet in smaller communities of practice consisting of a subset of fellows in the months between workshops. Teach for America Detroit will work with school partners to ensure fellows are able to engage in quarterly workshops, guaranteeing fellows will spend no more than four working days at a location other than their school site due to fellowship activities. Fellows will coordinate with the members of their community of practice to schedule meeting dates and times throughout the year to discuss the application of learning from quarterly workshops within the context of their schools
Is the National Board Certification process optional?
A heavy component of the Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship is becoming nationally board certified, so engaging in the process is not optional. Because we do require fellows to engage in the NBC process, we do cover all costs related to becoming NBC.
Why is National Board Certification included as part of the Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship?
At Teach For America, we believe that our educators deserve access to deepening and building their craft as educators and even more importantly, we believe our students deserve access to educators that are constantly evolving and growing.
We see becoming National Board Certified as an equity issue for our educators and our students which is why we chose to actively pursue this professional track for our Fannie M. Richards Fellows who have multi-year experience and can really benefit, at this point in their career, from receiving the consulting and support they would receive while becoming National Board Certified. We recognize that becoming an NBCT doesn’t immediately eradicate the larger systemic issues that exist around this; however, we welcome you to dive into this blog post from Peggy Brookins, President and CEO of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and this post from Juliana Urtubey a Latinx National Board Fellow, to learn about what it means to be National Board Certified from the perspective of two women of color.
How does the job placement process work for fellows?
Fellows already teaching in Detroit will have the option of staying in their current schools or moving to one of our partner schools. Fellows moving into Detroit will be supported in the hiring process and matched with one of our partner schools.
What type of job can I have as a Fannie M. Richards Educator fellow?
Fannie M. Richards Educator fellows are fellows who have 4-5 years of experience, however, job titles vary from being a classroom teacher, to an instructional coach, to a curriculum coordinator. Based on the type of professional development that fellows will engage in, specifically working to become nationally board certified, it is encouraged that fellows are classroom teachers. If a fellow does have a position within a Detroit school, but it is not a classroom teaching position, then that fellow will need to work directly with the program lead to set up a plan of action for completing certain components of the National Board Certification. Fellows who are in hybrid teaching and coaching roles are also particularly well-suited for the Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship.
Do I have to be a Teach For America Alumni to apply to the Fannie M. Richards Educator fellowship?
The Fannie M. Richards Educator Fellowship is open to all educators, not just Teach for America alumni, who have 4-5 years of experience and hold a Michigan teaching certificate.
Who are your partners? Where will fellows teach?
We currently partner with a number of DPSCD public schools and not for profit public charter schools in Detroit including Detroit Achievement Academy, Detroit Prep, Brenda Scott Academy, Thirkell Elementary, Denby High School, Western High School, Escuela Avancemos, Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences, Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, and more. Teach for America Detroit’s fellowship team will support fellows in connecting to opportunities at our partner schools and districts.
If I don’t hold a Michigan teaching or administrative certification am I still able to apply to any of the fellowships?
Yes, you can still apply! You must hold a current teaching certificate in your current state (i.e. if you live in Florida and are interested in transitioning to Detroit, then in order to apply you must at least carry a Florida state teaching certificate). If admitted into one of our fellowships, you will need to eventually carry a Michigan teaching certificate. We do have an out-of-state certification transfer process that can be accessed here and you can also access the Michigan Online Educator Certification System that can provide additional details as well. We do cover all costs to transfer your certification from your current state to Michigan. Directions on how we cover those costs are listed in the out-of-state transfer one-pager as well.