Founded on the principles of partnership, collaboration and cooperation between the Federal Government and school-based educators, the U.S. Department of Education designed the School Ambassador Fellowship program to enable outstanding teachers, administrators, and other school leaders, such as school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and librarians to bring their school and classroom expertise to the Department and to expand their knowledge of the national dialogue about education. The School Ambassador Fellowship is a professional learning community designed to improve educational outcomes for students by leveraging the expertise of school-based practitioners in the creation, evaluation, and dissemination of information around national education initiatives.
Visit the Program Overview section for more information about the Fellowship.
What's New
The application period for the 2025-2026 School Ambassador Fellowship cohort will open soon. Please continue to follow this page for updates on the application opening and closing timeline.
In the meantime, visit the Applicant Information Section for information on how to apply.
How Can Districts, States, and Educational Organizations Support the School Ambassador Fellowship?
The school Ambassador Fellowship is a tremendous opportunity for School Districts seeking to a voice in the national educational policy discussion. Having school and district-based representatives working closely with the Department of Education as members of the School Ambassador Fellowship, can benefit school districts in the following ways:
- Through their interaction with leaders at the U.S. Department of Education, Fellows provide a direct line of contact and engagement between the Department and their local school districts and are positioned to elevate pressing educational challenges faced by the students they serve.
- Fellows build, foster and facilitate relationships between their school districts and the Department's nationwide network of educational organizations.
- In collaboration with Department staff and resources, Fellows work on projects intended to solve complex challenges that will directly impact the students, families and educators within their local communities.
You can support the Fellowship by sharing SAF selection announcements and other School Ambassador Fellowship related information such as the link to the School Ambassador Fellowship web page as well as the program flyer and brochure broadly with the educators in your school district and/or members of your professional educator network(s).
In addition, you can spread the word about the School Ambassador Fellowship online by downloading the following SAF Social Media image, posting it on your website and social media, and tagging us on your social media at @FellowsAtED or by using the hashtag #FellowsAtED.
School Ambassador Fellowship Mission
The School Ambassador Fellowship is designed to improve education for students by involving educators in the development and implementation of national education policy. The Fellowship seeks to:
- Create a community of teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers and other school staff members who share expertise and collaborate with leaders in the federal government on national education issues.
- Involve educators who work daily with students and teachers in developing policies that affect classrooms and schools.
- Highlight practitioners' voices and expand educators' critical leadership at the national, state, and local levels.
About the Fellowship
The School Ambassador Fellowship supports the Department's mission by leveraging a cadre of outstanding educators to contribute their classroom and school expertise to the national education dialogue and in turn facilitate discussions with educators across the country. For the Fellows, the program adds greater knowledge of educational policy and leadership to their toolkits, allowing them to further contribute to solutions at all levels for long, intractable challenges in education.
Fellowship Opportunities and Roles
The School Ambassador Fellowship is an experience, which offers two separate tracks: the Full-time Fellowship, in which teachers, administrators, and other school staff members are based remotely at the Department's Headquarters in Washington, DC.; and the Part-time Fellowship which enables educators to collaborate with the Department while maintaining their regular school responsibilities in their home communities.
Part-time Fellows continue serving as teachers, administrators, and other school leaders on a full-time basis in their local school settings, and work with the SAF Program Team and Department of Education staff for up to 10 hours per week on a range of important issues. Full-time Fellows take a leave of absence from their local districts and support the Department's efforts remotely on a daily basis. As part of their Fellowship experience, Fellows travel on behalf of the Department to support key initiatives and share their valuable insights and perspectives, in-person. See the table below for more information about the Fellows' commitment and expectations:
| Guide | Full-Time Position | Part-Time Position |
| Remote/In-person | Remote | Remote |
| Fellowship Engagement | Take a leave of absence from their local educator roles and work daily with Department staff on a full-time basis. | Continue serving in existing educator role during their Fellowship and engage with the Department during scheduled intervals. |
| Fellowship Duration | 6-10 months | Approximately 6 months |
| Hours per Week | 40 Hours | 10 Hours |
| Travel | 1-2 required trips | 1-2 required trips |
School Ambassador Fellows contribute valuable classroom, school, and district-level knowledge and perspective to the Department, greatly increase their own knowledge and understanding of Federal education policies and programs, and collaborate to provide specific outreach to educators in the field. Over the course of their Fellowship, Fellows gain in-depth knowledge of Department initiatives, provide their perspectives to senior staff, share relevant experiences with internal and external audiences, and facilitate discussion with educators across the country on a range of important issues. In addition to taking on individual tasks subject to their unique background and expertise, all School Ambassador Fellows collaborate with one another as a team to provide common outreach and gain insight from the field. In addition, all Fellows are responsible for completing a Capstone project to improve educational outcomes in their local, state, and national contexts.
Learn More and Apply to the School Ambassador Fellowship
- School Ambassador Fellowship Program Brochure
- School Ambassador Fellowship Flyer
- School Ambassador Fellowship Online Application Portal
Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreements
Tasks performed by both part time and full-time School Ambassador Fellows on behalf of the US Department of Education occur under agreement formed through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) mobility program. The IPA mobility program provides for the temporary assignment of skilled personnel to or from state and local governments and certain other organizations to facilitate cooperation between the Federal government and the non-Federal entity, and to provide mutual benefits for limited periods without loss of employee rights and benefits. Official start dates are contingent upon the date established on a signed IPA after security clearances have taken place. Further information about the IPA program is available on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/intergovernment-personnel-act/.
2023-2024 Cohort Coming Soon
We will be announcing the 2023-2024 Cohort of the School Ambassador Fellowship in the coming weeks. Please return to this page to learn all about the new cohort:
In the meantime, you may use the links below to learn about previous School Ambassador Fellowship cohorts.
2022-2023 Full-Time and Part-Time Fellows
Eligibility
To be eligible for the School Ambassador Fellowship program, participants must:
- Be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident.
- Currently be a teacher, administrator, student support provider, or other school staff member (and anticipate being employed in this role during the next school year).
- Employed by a traditional accredited public, charter, private, virtual, military (DoDEA), or tribal (BIE) school that serves any grade, preschool through twelfth. (Please note that we only accept applications for candidates that are employed with a school or district).
- Have at least five years of experience as an educator up to and including the current school year.
- Have daily meaningful interaction with students and educators in a school setting in his/her school role.
Desirable applicants have:
- A history of demonstrable and meaningful impact on student outcomes and school success.
- A record of leadership in the school and community settings.
- Strong written and oral communication skills.
- Experience with outreach activities and project management skills.
- Relevant insights from classroom, school and/or district experiences that are transferable to federal education programs and initiatives.
- Support from school and district leaders.
Application Components
A complete application includes the components listed below. Applications that do not include each of the required components will not be reviewed and scored:
- Verification of program eligibility requirements;
- Personal statement video;
- A one-page, written abstract of intended Capstone project;
- Three recommender forms (one from current supervisor and two from others who can attest to the applicant's quality and impact;
- A current resume (cover letter is optional).
Application Review and Selection
School Ambassador Fellowship selection encompasses four distinct phases, as described below:
Phase 1: Application Completeness Check and Ranking
As part of their application submissions, SAF applicants must provide information on their experiences and achievements by (1) selecting statements which most closely align with their level and types of experiences and achievements they possess; and (2) uploading artifacts that support their selected statements. The online application portal will calculate a preliminary ranking score and rank each applicant based on their responses to the experience/achievement items. SAF program staff will review the applicants' selections for accuracy against the artifacts provided and adjust scores as necessary when an applicant's selection does not match how they rated their experiences and achievements. Following artifact review and scoring, the SAF program office will re-rank the scores and perform a completeness check of the top scoring applicants.
Phase 2: Application Panel Review
During the Application Panel Review round, the highest-scoring 100 applications from Phase 1 of selection are reviewed by a panel comprised of P-12 educators, higher education faculty, school district personnel, and other educational stakeholders. Each review panel is overseen by a trained U.S. Department of Education staff member or by a current or former School Ambassador Fellow.
Phase 3: Individual Virtual Interviews
During the interview round, the top-scoring applicants from the panel review round will be invited to meet with an interview panel to further discuss their candidacy for the School Ambassador Fellowship. All applicants will be notified about their progress in the Fellowship application and selection process.
Phase 4: Group Final Selection Interview
The top-scoring applicants from the previous rounds of selection will advance to the Group Final Selection Interview, which is an all-day virtual interview during which finalists will engage in individual and group performance tasks designed to assess the degree to which they are able to synthesize research, problem-solve, work collaboratively, and communicate effectively. The Group Final Selection Interview is attended by officials from across the US Department of Education who observer the finalists' presentations, pose questions, and offer feedback on what they have seen and heard.
School Ambassador Fellowship Selection Criteria
All materials within the application are peer-reviewed and will be assessed against the School Ambassador Fellowship selection criteria. These selection criteria are:
- Demonstrable Contributions to Student Learning
- Effective Leadership Skills
- Strong Communication Skills
- Relevant Interests and Expertise
- School System Support
Successful School Ambassador Fellowship applications should clearly demonstrate:
- The candidate's personal and professional experiences that have defined them as an educator;
- The extent to which candidates have used their career to be an agent of change within their local school district, state, or at the national level;
- The extent to which you will leverage your professional networks, resources, and abilities to promote the Secretary of Education's priorities and the Department's strategic goals and initiatives;
- The extent to which your membership in the School Ambassador Fellowship will benefit your school community and/or district.
Application Submission and Deadline
In order to be considered for the 2024-2025 School Ambassador Fellowship cohort, applicants must submit their application with all required documents and recommendations, using the online application system. Please note that any materials submitted by U.S. mail or email will not be reviewed.
The application period for the 2024-2025 cohort of the School Ambassador Fellowship opened on December 1, 2023 and closed on February 5, 2024 at 11:59pm EST. No applications are being accepted at this time.
Application Resources
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Virtual Information and Q&A Webinar
The SAF Program Office held a virtual informational webinar for prospective applicants seeking to learn more about the School Ambassador Fellowship and the 2024-2025 cohort application and selection process on December 12, 2023. View slides from the webinar here.
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