Project Inspire Teacher Residency, a program created by Public Education Foundation, has received a $95,300 grant from the National Center for Teacher Residencies to expand and improve its efforts to recruit and develop black teachers for Hamilton County Schools. The award comes through NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative, a five-year, $20-million effort to recruit and train 750 new black teachers through NCTR’s nationwide network of teacher residency programs.
The grant will allow Project Inspire to lower barriers for and support incoming black teacher residents and connect them to excellent black teacher leaders in Hamilton County Schools for mentorship.
Project Inspire is one of 30 residencies chosen to receive a 2023-2024 BEI grant to increase access to black educators in their community. They were also recipients of the BEI grant for the 2022-2023 residency year. Project Inspire reports that 63 percent of teachers training in the 2022-2023 cohort are people of color.
“PEF and Project Inspire are committed to increasing the number of outstanding black teachers in Hamilton County Schools, teachers like Chandler Davenport, Hamilton County's 2023 Secondary Teacher of the year. Chandler Davenport is a Project Inspire graduate," said Dr. Dan Challener, president of Public Education Foundation. “We greatly appreciate this generous support from the National Center for Teacher Residencies, which will allow us to recruit and prepare more great teachers for students who too frequently don't get them."
Only 20 percent of the nation’s teaching workforce are teachers of color, even though more than half of students are people of color. Research has shown that having teachers of color has academic and social-emotional benefits for all students, but particularly for students of color. 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 Project Inspire 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, said officials. In 2022-2023, NCTR’s Network of teacher residencies reported that 69 percent of their teacher residents identified as a person of color – surpassing the only 20 percent of teachers who identify as a person of color nationally. This year, 63 percent of teachers training in Project Inspire are people of color.
Learn more about NCTR’s Black Educators Initiative at www.nctresidencies.org/blackeducators initiative.