WHY A TEACHING FELLOWSHIP?
Why a Teaching Fellowship?
The Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship combines several best practices in teacher preparation by bringing together:
• Excellent, paid preparation. The WW Teaching Fellowship offers Fellows a $30,000 stipend to pursue a high-quality master's degree in teaching.
• Immediate impact and ongoing support. Fellows teach in schools with high-need student populations, but also with leadership and support. As soon as they begin teaching, Fellows will receive mentoring from their universities and experienced teachers in their schools or districts.
• Preparation for a successful career in teaching. While WW Teaching Fellows make a three-year commitment to teach in high-need schools, we believe that the high-quality preparation and support the Fellowship provides will position Fellows for a sustained and successful career in teaching. The Fellowship is not intended to be a short-term Peace Corps-like experience. Rather, it is designed as a launch pad for teacher development and professional growth that will help shape a new generation of outstanding educators and leaders in America's classrooms.
• Highly selective admission. The WW Teaching Fellowship seeks to increase the quality of teaching candidates, not just the quantity. As a prestigious pathway to teaching for gifted undergraduates and accomplished career changers, the Fellowship will bring new talent into teaching, elevate the profession, and provide the preparation and ongoing support needed for success in the classroom.
• A new approach to teacher education. The Fellowship is more than a scholarship program. It seeks to transform teacher education while preparing future leaders in the teaching profession. The program will provide participating universities with new resources to develop model programs that prepare teachers in math- and science-related fields. The Woodrow Wilson Foundation will work with these universities in a broad range of areas: redesigning curricula to improve teacher preparation; creating clinical experiences in schools to help teacher candidates succeed with diverse populations; and assessing candidates' performance in the classroom. In the long term, this approach can lead to the adoption of more rigorous teacher education standards nationwide