‘Follow the Learning’ Fellows Named

May 28, 2026 — Dottie Engler ‘Follow the Learning Fellowship’ 2026 Recipients Named
Jennifer Li and Amanda Savage, Henderson K-12 Inclusion School, Boston Public Schools

Each year, Fund for Teachers names its “Follow the Learning” Fellow(s) in honor of longtime Board member and advocate Dottie Engler. Throughout her distinguished career, Dottie served as Director of Special Projects at Boston Plan for Excellence and Director of External Relations and Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. However, we are most proud of her enduring impact as a Fund for Teachers Board member.

We are honored to recognize 2026 Fellows Jennifer Li and Amanda Savage as this year’s “Follow the Learning” Fellows. This summer, Jennifer and Amanda will visit Nemarluk School in Darwin, Australia, to observe how educators support students with disabilities in both separate and inclusive classroom settings. Their fellowship will focus on strengthening practices that empower students with disabilities to succeed within a full-inclusion school model.

“Our students deserve teachers who are well trained in data collection and progress monitoring so that we can provide the appropriate accommodations and support each child needs to succeed. Over the past several years, we have worked closely with colleagues and school teams to deepen our expertise in these areas and support new teachers in developing these practices as well. However, our school still lacks a cohesive and aligned process for using data to implement accommodations and monitor student progress effectively.

We believe there is tremendous value in learning from schools outside our own context, which is why we plan to visit Nemarluk School in Darwin, Australia. We were especially drawn to Nemarluk’s unique model, which includes a main campus serving students with disabilities alongside satellite classrooms embedded within seven public elementary schools. These fully inclusive classrooms closely resemble our own setting.

Nemarluk’s primary goal is to prepare students with disabilities for successful inclusion while ensuring they continue to make meaningful progress once placed in inclusive environments. We hope to bring back insights and strategies that we can share with our principal and teaching teams to strengthen special education practices and inclusive instruction at our school.”