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.