You Will Need

An Application

All applications for Knowles Teaching Fellowships must be submitted online. You’ll be required to provide the following information in the application: your name, current mailing address, telephone number, email address, and how you found out about the Fellowship. Additionally, you must upload a current resume or curriculum vitae in PDF format.

Essays

The application requires you to write three essays discussing how you meet the three criteria (600 word maximum per essay). A strong essay will provide evidence of how you meet the criteria, be reflective, be grounded in your personal experiences, and allow reviewers to get to know you as an individual and a prospective teacher. We recommend that you avoid abstract platitudes about teaching and education, jargon or citing educational theories without personal reflection. Essay prompts will be made available once you register.

Letters of Recommendation

In the online application, you will be asked to enter the names and email addresses of three individuals who will each write a letter addressing one of the three criteria. These individuals will receive an email with instructions for submitting their recommendations online. Knowles reserves the right to follow up with the recommenders for additional information throughout the selection process.

Transcripts

The Knowles Teacher Initiative requires unofficial transcripts for all post-secondary (i.e., college level) coursework to be uploaded to the application. Official transcripts will be required for individuals who are selected for the Fellowship.

We're Looking for Individuals With the Potential to Develop:

Content Knowledge for Teaching


Knowles seeks Fellowship candidates who have exceptional content knowledge in the area they intend to teach and who also have the capacity and drive to develop the specialized content knowledge needed to carry out the work of teaching. A strong foundation of knowledge in the discipline is a necessary first step for developing the content knowledge needed for teaching; hence we seek candidates who have at least the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in a discipline related to the subject(s) they intend to teach, who demonstrate a flexibility within and connectedness across their own understanding of the discipline, who are passionate about the discipline, and who have a desire to continue to push their own understanding of even basic concepts within the discipline.

Exemplary Teaching Practices


Knowles Teaching Fellowships are explicitly designed to support beginning high school teachers; hence we are seeking candidates who are committed to working with adolescents and teaching math or science at the high school level. We do not expect candidates to display a mastery of teaching when they apply. Rather, we are seeking candidates who understand that teaching is highly complex, intellectually challenging work and recognize that, regardless of other experiences they may have had, it will take them considerable time and effort to become outstanding teachers.

Qualities of a Teacher Leader


Knowles is committed to strengthening the teaching profession by identifying and supporting outstanding teachers who can serve as leaders from within the teaching profession. These teacher leaders are capable of contributing to and supporting collaborative work in schools, supporting collective learning including the generation of knowledge about and for the profession, and assuming responsibility for serving and supporting others. We seek candidates who have the potential to become leaders who serve as agents of educational improvement for students within their classrooms, schools, communities, and the profession.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for a 2023 Knowles Teaching Fellowship, individuals must:

  1. have the capacity and determination to commit to teaching as their primary career;
  2. have earned a degree in a major related to the mathematics or science discipline they intend to teach between 2013 and September 1, 2023;
  3. have earned or will earn a valid state teaching credential/certificate/license that enables them to teach mathematics or science in grades 9–12 in the United States no earlier than January 1, 2018 and no later than September 1, 2023; and
  4. be entering their first, second or third** year as teacher-of-record during the 2023–2024 academic year.*

* For the purpose of eligibility, we consider an applicant’s first year of teaching to be the first year in which they teach full time for the full academic year as the teacher-of-record.

** Third-year teachers will be eligible for 2023 Fellowships only.

If you have questions about eligibility, please contact us at apply@knowlesteachers.org