K-12 Teacher / Member of Teacher Corps Cohort

Arkansas Teacher Corps (ATC) offers a paid 3 year fellowship to individuals holding (or completing by May 2021) an accredited bachelor’s degree. ATC teaching Fellows receive job placement, teacher pay, additional pay, licensure, and further training and support. Placements fall under almost all K-12 subject areas and the program generally caters to the geographic placement needs of the Fellow. Individuals interested in an ATC Fellowship are encouraged to visit our website and apply online before one of our three application deadlines for the 2022 cohort year (November 1st, January 1st, or March 1st).

Individuals accepted into ATC will begin summer training in Jonesboro, AR in late May of 2022 and begin teaching full time in the fall of 2022. Please reach out to John Hall, ATC’s Director of Recruitment, for more information.

Last year, the Arkansas Teacher Corps (ATC) received over 150 urgent requests for classroom teachers from schools serving predominantly low income and minority students in Arkansas. ATC believes every student deserves an outstanding educator working to ensure that all students understand and buy into their individual potential; ATC serves these students and communities by providing them with committed, energetic teaching Fellows focused on empowering all of their students.

ATC’s Mission: ATC recruits, trains, and supports exceptional, social justice-oriented individuals to serve as teachers for Arkansas students who need them the most. ATC is an alternative teacher licensure preparation program that provides an accelerated path to teaching for the highest-performing and social justice-oriented individuals in order to have a lasting impact on students and communities in Arkansas. Individuals from all majors and backgrounds are able to become ATC teaching Fellows.

How do we prepare and support out teachers? Every summer we send our new cohort of teachers to an intensive 8 week training session in Northeast Arkansas (ATC Summer Institute). Our Fellows lodge on campus at Arkansas State in Jonesboro and teach summer school in Osceola, AR - riding the 40 miles together on the school bus every morning. Summer Institute is purposely designed to mirror the program’s teacher development model - where each teaching Fellow receives support from a teaching “coach” throughout their Fellowship (observations, feedback sessions, group development, book studies, training sessions, etc.).

Who becomes an Arkansas Teacher Corps Fellow? Our teaching Fellows come from many different backgrounds, but they all share something in common: they see social inequality and they feel obliged to do something about it. ATC is looking for bright, passionate, energetic, and committed individuals from all majors and backgrounds to become teachers for Arkansas students who need them most. The individuals who are accepted into ATC are given a direct opportunity to serve children and give back to the state.

How are ATC Fellows compensated? First of all, ATC is free to apply to and free to join. Individuals that accept Fellowships are paid $2500 in advance of Summer Institute (where their dorm is paid for as well as some meals). Fellows are then placed in school districts as licensed teachers and earn teacher salaries - these vary by district and range from $30k-40K. Fellows are then paid out and additional $2500 at the completion of the Fellowship. Some Fellows are paid out additional bonuses from the state for teaching in specific school districts.

How do I apply? You can apply online here and there are three deadlines for application per year: November 1st 2021, January 1st 2022, and March 1st 2022. Successful applicants will begin Summer Institute in late May of 2021 and begin working as full-time teachers Critical Academic Licensure Shortage Areas in the fall of 2022.

ATC expects Fellows to be open to serve in the Arkansas Delta but will also place a small number of Fellows in Central Arkansas each year.

For more information please visit our website at www.arkansasteachercorps.org, call us at (479) 575 – 6418, or check out our FAQ page.

In addition to teacher salaries, state benefits, and student loan repayment incentives, there will be bonuses paid out during the 3 year Fellowship, averaging about $5,000 per year.