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PEF's 'Project Inspire' Trains Professionals to Teach in TN's At-Risk Schools

The Public Education Foundation's Project Inspire is a federally-funded program training math and science professionals to teach in some of the lowest-performing middle and high schools in Tennessee. In this interview, WUTC's Richard Winham is speaking with Mark Neal—the Services Director for Project Inspire—and Tadd Russell, a first year teacher in the program. Mr. Russell had never been in a classroom as a teacher when he started the program, but he felt confident, he said, because of all the support he was given.

From the PEF Web site:

How do you get smart, motivated teachers into elementary and middle school classrooms at high-need schools? You offer them more support than they could ask for through an innovative model of teacher preparation. It’s called Project Inspire in Chattanooga. Project Inspire is a teacher residency whose main goal is to inspire teachers to teach and students to learn. Its focus is on math classrooms in grades 4-8 in Chattanooga. By providing practical learning, hands-on experience, and a support network teachers need to be effective right away, Project Inspire is building a real movement for education reform starting from the ground up. Project Inspire is a partnership between PEF, Urban Teacher Residency United (UTRU), Hamilton County Department of Education, Tennessee Technological University, with support from AmeriCorps and First to the Top.

Richard Winham joined WUTC five years after the station began broadcasting to the Chattanooga area and the Tennessee Valley.