The U.S. Department of Education believes that it is important that teachers have meaningful opportunities to both contribute to and understand the policies that impact their students and classrooms. In order to implement needed reforms, all stakeholders must understand the intent of policy and be engaged in the outcomes. The Department also understands that often when parents and teachers want information about education, it to other teachers that they turn.

The goal of the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship is to support the Department's mission by providing the opportunity for a cadre of outstanding teachers to contribute their classroom expertise to the national dialogue and in turn to facilitate similar discussion with educators across the country. For the Fellows, the program allows them to add greater knowledge of policy and leadership to their toolkits to serve as further leaders in the field and create solutions for long intractable problems in education at all levels.

Fellows spend a year gaining greater knowledge of the content of key federal programs and policies in addition to the context and process by which they are designed and implemented. Fellows are asked to share their expertise with federal staff members, to provide outreach and communication about federal initiatives to other educators on behalf of the Department, and to facilitate the involvement in and understanding of teachers in developing and implementing these efforts at the federal, state and local levels, to improve the likelihood of their success.

The Teaching Ambassador Fellowship program offers two year-long tracks: the Washington Fellowship which is a full-time appointment based at the Department’s Headquarter and the Classroom Fellowship in which participants on a part-time consultancy basis for the Department, in addition to their regular school hours.

In the Washington Fellowship, selected teachers serve as full-time federal employees in Washington, DC for one school year. Fellows are placed in offices within the Department of Education to work on education programs and policy development and implementation. They contribute valuable school and classroom level knowledge and perspective to the Department; collaborate to provide specific outreach to other teachers and greatly increase their knowledge and understanding of federal education policies and programs in order to share with other teachers. Over the year, Washington Fellows will gain in-depth knowledge of Department initiatives; provide their perspectives to senior staff; share relevant school and classroom experiences with internal and external audiences; and facilitate discussion amongst educators about policy in DC and in areas around the country as necessary.

In the Classroom Fellowship, selected teachers serve as paid part-time federal employees in addition to their regular school work for one school year, primarily by sharing public information with other teachers and facilitating conversation amongst educators at the district, state and regional level. They contribute valuable school and classroom level knowledge and perspective to the Department; collaborate to provide specific outreach to other teachers and greatly increase their knowledge and understanding of federal education policies and programs and their critical interplay with state and local policies. Over the year, Classroom Fellows will gain knowledge of key Department initiatives and understand how these intersect with state and local efforts; work with Department staff to gather and share information with constituencies in the region; and be asked periodically to share relevant school and classroom experiences with internal and external audiences.

In 2010-2011, the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship will continue to focus on the Department's key policy priorities – particularly as they relate to ensuring that every student has an effective teacher and graduates from high school college- and career-ready. Teaching Ambassador Fellows will work to learn about, contribute to, and share information as the Department seeks reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and continues building on the implementation of the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act.