Osborne Fellows

Urban school teachers face specific challenges. The Osborne Fellows Initiative (2003 - 2008) was an innovative master's degree program that focused on those issues and provided participants with the training they need to make a positive impact in their schools.

Osborne Fellows are teachers in Hamilton County's urban elementary and middle schools who enrolled in a two-year program to receive a Master's degree in Urban Education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). An outgrowth of work in the district's Benwood Initiative, Osborne Fellows committed to work in Hamilton County urban schools for at least four years after graduation. Graduates of the Fellows program were also encouraged to continue preparing for leadership roles through participation in the ongoing Osborne Leadership Series.

The Osborne Fellows Initiative has made a positive impact on Hamilton County's urban schools:

• One goal of the program was to increase the number of teachers with master's degrees to the same level as the rest of the district. In 2008, 51% of urban elementary teachers had master's degrees, while this rate was 54% for the entire district.
• In addition, the Osborne Fellows Initiative has helped reduce teacher turnover. In Hamilton County's eight urban elementary schools, the number of new teachers has been reduced from 55 in 2001 to 28 in 2005.
• A third goal focused directly on student success. As part of the Benwood Initiative, Osborne Fellows helped the percentage of urban 3rd graders passing the state's reading exam jump from 53% in 2003 to 78% in 2008.

More than 40 teachers have completed the Osborne Fellows program and now serve as school leaders throughout Hamilton County.

For more information on the Osborne Fellows Initiative, contact:

Leslie Graitcer
423.668.2439