teachNOLA Teaching Fellows

Program Overview

This is a critical time for New Orleans as the city works to transform one of the nation’s lowest-performing school systems into one of its best—a goal that cannot be met without dedicated educators capable of helping struggling students to catch up with their peers. teachNOLA is a highly selective program that trains accomplished professionals and outstanding recent college graduates to become high-impact teachers in New Orleans' highest-need schools.

As a Fellow, you will begin making a difference for students right away, joining a network of dynamic teachers working to end a legacy of educational inequality. To learn more, watch this clip.

Why Join

Last year, 8 in 10 of our city’s eighth graders were not reading or doing math at grade level. Teachers, who have a greater impact on student learning than any other school factor, have the power to change that statistic. But too often, our highest-need schools struggle to attract and retain the talented teachers students count on, particularly in critical-shortage subjects like math, science, and special education. We are transforming this reality by recruiting and preparing teachers capable of improving student achievement to make a career in New Orleans public schools.  

If you have what it takes to inspire, motivate, and get results for students, we strongly encourage you to apply. The application for the 2012 cohort of Teaching Fellows is now open. Click on the "Apply Now" button to begin your application today. It is in your best interest to apply as early as possible as interview slots tend to fill up quickly.

Who We Want

While there is no single profile of an ideal candidate, teachNOLA is highly competitive because every student deserves outstanding teachers. You could be a high-achieving recent graduate who majored in economics or physics and wants to share your passion for these subjects with New Orleans students. You may have built a successful career in business or engineering, and now wish to give back as a teacher. Whatever your background, you share a commitment to improving student achievement and changing the lives of students in New Orleans’ highest-need schools.

We review every application carefully, looking for candidates with the essential traits and skills needed to thrive in some of our city’s most challenging classrooms.

Our essential traits for Fellows include:

• The belief that you can become an excellent teacher and lead high-need students to high levels of academic achievement, including students with disabilities and those who are performing below grade level
• The demonstrated ability to incorporate feedback to rapidly improve
• The ability to think critically, make sound judgments, and generate multiple solutions to challenges
• Exemplary professionalism, including reliability in meeting commitments and deadlines, professional oral and written communication skills, and professional interactions with others

As part of our selection process, we ask candidates to demonstrate real teaching tasks to assess baseline proficiency in our Fast Start skills – the essential instructional skills that we believe new teachers must master before making a strong start in the classroom in the fall.  Our Fast Start skills are as follows.

• Clearly communicating academic content
• Ensuring that class time is used well
• Ensuring full and purposeful student engagement at all times during a lesson
• Ensuring that student behavior is positive, respectful, and productive

Learn more about eligibility and testing requirements for our Fellows.

How We Help You Make a Difference

If selected into the program, you will enroll as a Fellow in our Pre-Service Training where you will build mastery in the Fast Start skills and prepare for a strong start in the classroom, ready to help all students make academic progress. Then, during your first year in the classroom, you will complete certification coursework through TNTP Academy, our acclaimed teacher preparation program. In your weekly TNTP Academy seminars, you will build upon your mastery of Fast Start skills and develop more advanced skills that effective teachers deploy in their classrooms every day. TNTP Academy has a proven track record of preparing new teachers to be immediately effective in the classroom; research sponsored by the state of Louisiana shows that our graduates have outperformed even experienced teachers in improving student achievement in several core subjects.