In 2010, Teach Plus began its partnership with the Memphis City Schools.  The primary focus of this work is to support the implementation of TEI by helping to inform teachers about local and national policies that support teacher effectiveness and that create structures to enable all children to have access to high quality teachers. Teach Plus is building an intellectual community of teachers who are interested in learning about policies that will retain a greater number of excellent teachers and also seeks to provide feedback to district, union, state, and federal education reformers and leaders.

Teach Plus Memphis officially launched its Teaching Policy Fellowship in October 2010 with an inaugural cohort of 21 teachers from district and charter schools in Memphis City Schools. The cohort was selected from a pool of over 100 applicants through a rigorous selection process.  They have engaged with policymakers such as Cory Kurl from the Tennessee Department of Education and Dr. Irving Hamer, Deputy Superintendent of MCS. The Memphis fellows are currently embarking on opportunities to have an impact on policy developments around the new teacher evaluation system.

Teach Plus also launched the T+ Network in October 2010.  This network invites all teachers who are interested in learning about policy and giving feedback to policy leaders to come to network events.  The first Memphis T+ Network event, entitled “Teacher Evaluation: Supporting Improvement, Achieving Results,” engaged over 100 teachers in dialogue with policymakers about the new teacher evaluation system in Memphis City Schools.

Teach Plus Memphis offers teachers two innovative leadership opportunities that are designed to place teacher leaders at the center of education reform: the Teaching Policy Fellowship and the T+ Network. 

In Memphis, teachers can take advantage of:

This highly selective program is for teachers who are interested learning how to advocate for policies that will better serve students and retain excellent teachers.  The inaugural cohort of T+ Policy Fellows is currently engaged in designing future Memphis T+ Network events, and in reviewing state policies through analysis of four strategic plans that would align teaching practices with Race to the Top requirements. The Memphis Teaching Policy Fellows 2010-2012 cohort is made up of twenty-one top teacher leaders from urban schools in Memphis City Schools, including district and charter schools.  Read their bios here. We are now accepting applications for our 2012 cohort of Fellows. Find out more here.

The T+ Network is a rapidly growing national movement of teachers who want to: connect with highly-motivated peers and national and local policy leaders, learn about innovative policies to empower effective teachers, and be a voice for change within the teaching profession.  The T+ Network began in Memphis in October 2010 and has engaged over 200 teachers.  Guest speakers have included: TN Evaluation Advisory Committee and MCS Board Commissioner Tomeka Hart, TEI Coordinator of Evaluation and Tenure Carla Franklin and Teach Plus CEO/Founder Celine Coggins.  Read more about past events here.