Fast-track teacher program praised

By Beverly A. Carroll

Staff Writer

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- When Robert Donaghy's wife asked him what he was going to do with the second half of his life, the Cleveland resident said teaching was the first thing that popped into his mind.

"I've wanted to teach all my life," the 57-year-old retired mechanical engineer and Army reservist said.

So 10 years ago, he earned master's and doctoral degrees in education from the University of Tennessee, but even those weren't enough to get him in the classroom.

But Teach Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen's program to fast-track professionals through teacher training, was.

"Just having a master's or doctorate does not provide one with the certification required, or the license to teach in the classroom as I wanted to do," Dr. Donaghy said. "To be in the classroom, one has to overcome the obstacle of teacher licensure. Teach Tennessee gives one a manageable way to do that."

Teach Tennessee started in summer 2005, and state officials are calling the program a success. Candidates go through intensive two-week training sessions held twice a year.

In the first three sessions, 89 people completed the course, according to a review prepared by the state Department of Education. Of those, 83, or 93 percent, have met state qualifications for alternative licenses to teach math or science.

"The experience has been that almost all of them get jobs," said Gov. Bredesen, who proposed the idea as a way for professionals to make mid-career switches to education and to help school systems hire teachers for hard-to-fill positions in math and science. "When you start something like this, you never know if it's going to work or if anybody is going to want to do it."

The training institute is led by educators from public and private teacher-preparation programs, state and local educators and administrators and Tennessee Education Association members. It runs 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Admission does not guarantee a job. When candidates find jobs, they are assigned a mentor for 25 days, and they complete 40 hours of teacher training provided by the school.

"There have been two keys to the program's success," said Becky Kent, director of Teach Tennessee. "One is the intensive screening that candidates go through, and second (is) the mentoring component. I've seen similar programs in other states, but I haven't seen that kind of investment into mentoring."

Professionals in the classroom bring relevance to the subject matter, said principal Danny Coggin of Walker Valley High School, where Dr. Donaghy will teach math this year.

"(Dr. Donaghy) has done the job we are training the kids to do," Mr. Coggin said. "It shows them how what they are learning is relevant to the real world."

People selected for training have included veterinarians, nurses, doctors, attorneys, chemists, accountants, physics instructors and college professors.

From the 89 who have qualified to teach, 76 accepted teaching jobs and 63 are still in the classroom, according to the state's review.

Though Dr. Donaghy could teach at the college level, he chose to work with younger students. He said he made that decision while teaching at Cleveland State Community College.

He asked for students who are struggling with math. His college experience taught him that students needed help long before they graduate from high school, he said.

"I tried to teach those classes like I had been taught 30 years ago, and it just didn't work," Dr. Donaghy said. "It was clear that students of today have different values. They learn in different ways. Many of them just need someone to understand that and help them in the ways they are accustomed to learning."

Dr. Donaghy said his family has been blessed so that he can take a teaching job making much less money than he did while working as an engineer.

"You don't do it for the money," he said. "At this stage of life what's important for me and my wife is not six-figure salaries. We have what we need. To us, there are more important things."

E-mail Beverly A. Carroll at bcarroll@timesfreepress.com