In the News

Nashville schools offer Vanderbilt degrees for top teachers
The Tennessean
February 10, 2010

Teachers willing to work with some of Metro Nashville's toughest-to-reach middle schoolers for at least five years could earn free master's degrees from Vanderbilt University.

This year, the university will admit 24 teachers into a special graduate program paid for by Metro Schools but offered at a deep discount by Vanderbilt. The degree will focus on urban middle school education and require teachers to select a focus in literacy, math or science.

The goal is to increase the number of top-quality teachers in Nashville's lowest-performing schools and make Metro a more attractive place to work. It's also one more way the district is trying to engage students in learning during the critical middle school years.

"The single biggest factor of successful student learning is the classroom teacher," said Camilla Persson Benbow, dean of education and human development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College.

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