| Name | David |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Baird |
| Home Address | 809 Stellar View Chattanooga, TN 37405 United States |
| Organization Name | Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | As Managing Director, Chattanooga, I am responsible for maximizing the reach and impact of Teach For America's contribution to the movement for educational equity by cultivating partnerships with external champions and by connecting alumni to each other, to great opportunities, and to the work of Teach For America. I oversee consequential workstreams in the region and in Chattanooga, represent and make decision in consideration of the region's vision, wield senior authority in the region, and serve as a key advisor and accountability partner to the regional Executive Director. Over time, my charge is to cultivate a theory of systems change in Chattanooga and work in partnership with regional staff and board, local alumni, and local partners and donors to manifest it. Along the way, I assure that our site in Chattanooga has the resources we require to sustain our operations and impact in Chattanooga. |
| Organization Address | 123 E 7th Street Suite 302 Chattanooga, TN 37402 United States |
| Website | https://www.tfanashchatt.org |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 4236188098 |
| Alternate Phone Number | |
| Email Address | david.baird@teachforamerica.org |
| Alternate Email Address | gdbaird@gmail.com |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | The Ignite Fellowship, a program of Teach For America (TFA) in Chattanooga: Unequal access to opportunity existed long before the pandemic, but the past two years have been especially hard for our most vulnerable kids. The pandemic has disproportionately affected low-income communities and communities of color. Due to COVID-19 and school closures, students have unfinished learning that is exacerbating existing educational inequities. Student engagement is dangerously low, and they are no longer willing to accept a one-size-fits-all model. The Ignite Fellowship is designed to address the needs of students today and to create the conditions for innovation tomorrow. The Ignite Fellowship aims to improve K-12 students' academic and socioemotional learning (SEL) outcomes by: 1. Recruiting a talented and diverse force of college students and Teach For America alumni to serve as small group learning fellows who partner directly with high need schools and schools in Chattanooga; 2. Training fellows and grounding them in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, a student-centered approach to teaching in which students' unique cultural strengths are identified and nurtured to promote academic achievement and a sense of well-being about a student's cultural place in the world; 3. Providing ongoing support to fellows and partner schools to ensure students achieve person and academic growth. Each fellow would be paired with 3-4 students at one of Teach For America's partner schools or an alumni-led school. They work together in learning communities for five hours per week for twelve weeks, one cohort each in the Fall and Spring. To ensure program equity and success, the learning groups take place during school hours but outside of regular classroom instruction. First and foremost, this program is designed to support students most impacted by COVID-19 related learning losses. As such, we will measure students' academic and SEL growth through school-based assessments and surveys. While this program is primarily focused on student learning, it will also provide support to our partner schools and enhance Teach For America's efforts to recruit the most promising young leaders on college campuses. Thus, we will also measure the lift provided to schools, the impact of the fellowship experience, and whether it results in increased application and matriculation rates among competitive candidates. We believe the Ignite Fellowship would complement and enhance our existing partnership with Hamilton County Schools and position us to maximize impact for students through an innovative program. An investment from the City of Chattanooga would enable us to recruit 35 fellows and at least 5 lead trainers in Fall 2022 and support approximately 140 underrepresented students in ongoing, out-of-classroom connected learning opportunities that result in improved academic and SEL outcomes. Background on Teach For America in Chattanooga: Teach For America (TFA) finds and develops a diverse network of leaders who expand opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector that shapes the broader education system. We recruit outstanding individuals to make a life-long commitment that begins with two years of teaching in a high-need public school. During these two years in the classroom, corps members exceed traditional expectations to advance the academic and personal growth of their students. In partnership with schools, families, universities, and community organizations, TFA provides initial training, ongoing professional development, and access to an unparalleled resource and support network. Corps members expand their perspectives, knowledge, and skills as educators, advocates, and systems-change leaders, thereby, impacting outcomes for students and families. TFA provides coaching and professional development to our teachers, and our coaches are attentive to the need for flexibility amid the ongoing pandemic. We match each corps member with a coach who supports them with regular observations and feedback, models instructional techniques, and recommends strategies for overcoming challenges to help students achieve goals. Throughout the school year, TFA hosts multiple professional development sessions for our corps members in addition to ongoing individual and small group coaching opportunities. These sessions are focused on leadership development, culturally competent teaching, relationship building with parents and students, and problem solving for barriers their students may be facing. Our professional development program ensures students receive the best education, support, and leadership possible. TFA advances educational outcomes for Chattanooga’s most vulnerable students by finding, developing, and supporting equity-oriented leaders to transform education and expand opportunity with children. In 2019, TFA answered the need for strong teacher talent in Hamilton County by expanding into Chattanooga, creating the Nashville-Chattanooga region. TFA partnered with the Hamilton County Department of Education (HCDE) to place our first cohort of 16 corps members in Opportunity Zone schools for the 2019-2020 school year. Through our first three years in Chattanooga, we have brought a total of 45 teacher-leaders into the highest need schools with students predominantly from low-income backgrounds in the MidTown and Missionary Ridge Learning Communities. TFA’s program in Chattanooga meets the needs of its students. Hamilton County students face persistent challenges, especially those experiencing poverty. Economically Disadvantaged students in HCDE have an average ACT score of 16.9, which is lower than the Tennessee average of 19.3 and lower than the college-ready score of 21. Additionally, only 20% of Economically Disadvantaged students in HCDE are Ready-Graduates, as defined by the Tennessee Department of Education (Tennessee State Report Card data for 2020). Chattanooga has a vibrant community of leaders, organizations, and coalitions that are committed to tackling educational inequities, and TFA was invited to expand to Chattanooga in 2019 following the Chattanooga 2.0 report that identified a key strategy of “Great Teachers Great Leaders.” TFA’s commitment to educational equity through teacher talent development and our proven success in producing strong outcomes for students of color and Economically Disadvantaged students directly correlates to the future Chattanooga 2.0 and HCDE envisions for their students, including increasing Ready Graduates to 55% by 2023 and 80% by 2030 (Chattanooga 2.0 2030 Goals and HCDE Future Ready 2023 Goals). To advance student achievement in target priority schools, TFA’s corps members need to have the support and skills necessary to lead their classrooms to success. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | The disruptions to the school system over the last two years have exacerbated existing educational inequities that threaten to jeopardize the future of our most vulnerable students, specifically, those experiencing poverty and students of color. The interim final rule published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury makes plain the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on these same communities: "Pre-existing social vulnerabilities magnified the pandemic in these communities, where a reduced ability to work from home and, frequently, denser housing amplified the risk of infection. Higher rates of pre-existing health conditions also may have contributed to more severe COVID-19 health outcomes. Similarly, communities or households facing economic insecurity before the pandemic were less able to weather business closures, job losses, or declines in earnings and were less able to participate in remote work or education due to the inequities in access to reliable and affordable broadband infrastructure. Finally, though schools in all areas faced challenges, those in high poverty areas had fewer resources to adapt to remote and hybrid learning models. Unfortunately, the pandemic also has reversed many gains made by communities of color in the prior economic expansion." The Ignite Fellowship would directly address interrupted learning that is exacerbating existing educational inequities. Specifically, the Ignite Fellowship in Chattanooga would target three key challenges facing students and the community: 1) missed and unfinished learning; 2) low engagement, and 3) lack of well-being. We propose to launch the Ignite Fellowship to address these connected learning challenges, while also supporting and engaging schools, educators, and college students who are top candidates to join our teaching corps. |
| Where would your project take place? | We would launch the Ignite Fellowship in any of our existing partner or alumni-led schools in Chattanooga. Based on our presence and clustering of TFA corps members and alumni, we believe we could confidently launch the fellowship in at least 5 schools in Fall 2022. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 135000 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | No |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | |
| If funded, when would your project start? | August 1, 2022 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | We would run two cohorts of fellows, one in the Fall and one in the Spring. The first year of the fellowship would conclude at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | For students, we measure academic and personal growth through school-based assessments and student surveys. We'll also assess the value this has had with school partners, as well as the impact of this experience on a college student's trajectory into education. Below is a summary of the outcomes we will monitor for different stakeholders: Students: - Academic growth on prioritized learning outcomes (determined in partnership with schools) - % Agree/Strongly Agree on student survey measuring socioemotional learning (SEL) focus areas School partners: - % Agree/Strongly Agree school partner key survey questions relative to impact and partnership with TFA, including Net Promoter Scores - % school partners who wish to continue partnership in the Ignite Fellowship Fellows: - % Agree/Strongly Agree survey key questions, including Net Promoter Score - X% complete fellowship - X% renew fellowship for another cohort TFA: - # students reached - # of fellows / the diversity of fellows - X% of "early deadline" fellows matriculate to TFA corps - X% of fellows apply to Teach For America |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | The Ignite Fellowship would be an unprecedented opportunity for the Teach For America site in Chattanooga to innovate and maximize impact for students. We have already established a strong, collaborative partnership with Hamilton County Schools, and our ongoing work with the HR office and school leaders grants us trust and credibility in monitoring the progress of students and fellows throughout the fellowship. We can rely on our existing partnerships and alumni network to launch the fellowship and support us in our efforts to survey students and fellows and managing the overall project. At least three full-time Teach For America staff members will be responsible for managing the progress of the fellowship, and we will rely in each of our school-based lead trainers to ensure programming is implemented in a way that fits the needs and schedule of partner schools. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | The success of this fellowship as a pilot in Phoenix, AZ, is encouraging given the acute need we are observing in Chattanooga to not just help students catch up, but to provide them with even better learning opportunities than they had access to pre-pandemic. This need is even more magnified for students experiencing poverty and students of color. In its pilot year in Phoenix: - 540+ students were impacted and received 17,000+ hours of hands-on support; - Within its focus of accelerating elementary reading, 3rd grade students grew an average of 61 points on the DIBELS reading assessment, and 11 out of 28 students exited remediation - Within its focus on accelerating middle school math, there was a 53% increase in student learning measured by pre- and post-Ignite testing; - 59% of the Ignite Fellows identified as a person of color compared to 24% of teachers in Arizona. We believe this project would benefit students and the school system in Chattanooga on multiple fronts. We will continue our work to diversify the educator workforce in Hamilton County Schools, and we are committed to realizing dramatic academic gains for students who participate. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Our request is that the City of Chattanooga fund approximately 50% of the costs to launch the Ignite Fellowship. We aim to create a true public-private partnership that stems out of the City's investment, and we are confident that the City's support would help us attract a broader array of supporters. Beyond financial buy-in, we know the value a high-dosage tutoring program and talent pipeline would bring to Chattanooga students and the school district. We would be eager to share our learnings and progress with other organizations - such as Chattanooga 2.0, Public Education Foundation, UTC, etc. - who are committed to advancing educational equity and academic excellence across Chattanooga. We are in the process of expanding our base of local supporters and partners to scale the Ignite Fellowship. We are fortunate and honored to be in partnership with several local foundations, corporations, and individuals who support our existing work in Chattanooga. Philanthropic leaders, including the Footprint Foundation, the Benwood Foundation, the Osborne Foundation, the Colby Foundation, and the George R. Johnson Family Foundation continue to support our work in Chattanooga. Additionally, Synovus Bank and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee support us along with a community of private donors who believe in our mission. Many of those funders have expressed interest in upgrading their commitments to us to specifically put us in a position to launch the tutoring fellowship. |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? |