TEACH FOR AMERICA

'Teach For America' (TFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to close the academic achievement gap between children from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Teach For America relies on the teachers they recruit to carry out their mission: to ensure that "One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education." The goal of TFA is for its "corps members" not only to make a short-term impact on their students, but also to become lifelong leaders in pursuing educational equality.
TFA recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in schools in low-income communities throughout the United States. Corps members do not have to be certified teachers, although certified teachers may apply. Uncertified corps members receive alternative certification through coursework taken while completing the program. Corps members attend an intensive 5-week summer institute to prepare for their commitment ^[1]. TFA teachers are placed in schools in urban areas such as New York City and Houston, as well as in rural places like eastern North Carolina and the Mississippi Delta. They then serve for 2 years, and are usually placed in schools with other Teach For America corps members. TFA teachers are full-fledged faculty members at their schools, receiving the normal school district salary and benefits as well as a modest AmeriCorps "education voucher" (which can be used to pay for credentialing courses, cover previous student loans, or fund further education after the two-year commitment).

Contents

History

Debate over educational impact

Retention and alumni

Similar programs

References

See also

External links

History

The organization was founded by Wendy Kopp, after she developed the idea to help eliminate educational inequity in the United States for her senior thesis at Princeton University in 1989. Since its beginning in 1990, more than 14,000 corps members have completed their commitment to TFA. The history of the organization is chronicled in her book "One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way"
Applying to Teach For America has become very popular among seniors at some of America's elite colleges. In its first year, TFA placed only 500 teachers. In 2007, the organization received applications from "11 percent of the senior classes at Amherst and Spelman; 10 percent of those at University of Chicago and Duke; and more than eight percent of the graduating seniors at Notre Dame, Princeton and Wellesley." Additionally, close to 18,000 individuals applied for an incoming corps of 2,900.^[2]
Teach for America's geographical impact has also grown. Originally serving only 6 regions, TFA is now active in 26 communities:

★ Atlanta ★ Baltimore ★ Bay Area ★ Camden, New Jersey ★ Charlotte ★ Chicago ★ Connecticut ★ Denver ★ Eastern North Carolina ★ Greater New Orleans ★ Hawaii

★ Houston ★ Las Vegas Valley ★ Los Angeles ★ Memphis ★ Miami-Dade ★ Mississippi Delta ★ New Haven ★ New Mexico ★ New York City ★ Newark, New Jersey

★ Philadelphia ★ Phoenix ★ Rio Grande Valley ★ St. Louis ★ South Dakota ★ South Louisiana ★ Washington D.C.

As part of its ongoing expansion plans, Teach for America is seeking to expand to Denver for the 2007-2008 school year,^[3] and to Jacksonville for the 2008-2009 school year.^[4]

Debate over educational impact

Since the founding of the organization, some have questioned whether Teach For America teachers perform better than teachers with educational training at the university level. ^[5] Mathematica Policy Research addressed this question in a study published in June 2004. The study compared the gains in reading and math achievement made by students randomly assigned to TFA teachers or other teachers in the same school. The results showed that, on average, students with TFA teachers raised their mathematics test scores 0.15 standard deviations more than the gains made by other students. This is equivalent to students having received one extra month of instruction. In reading, students with TFA teachers performed similarly to students with other teachers.
In the spring of 2005, a study published by Stanford researchers, including educational researcher Linda Darling-Hammond, concluded that TFA teachers in Houston who had not completed certification programs were less effective than traditionally credentialed teachers.^[6] "Our study doesn't say you shouldn't hire Teach for America teachers," said Hammond, "Our study says everyone benefits from preparation, including Teach for America teachers — that they became more effective when they became certified." ^[7] Teach For America has disputed the methodology of that study, which compared first and second year TFA teachers with more experienced teachers at other schools and studied only a very small group of teachers. The study's statistical models used a large number of variables (17) and produced moderate R-Squared statistics (0.43 to 0.68).

Retention and alumni

It is reported that between 10 and 15 percent of each Teach For America corps class leaves before completing their two-year commitment.^[8] Many reasons for drop out have been postulated, including the stress of meeting the high goals set by the Teach For America mission and challenging school conditions.
In the past much of the organization's efforts have been tightly focused on recruitment, but are now shifting to boost the retention rate. TFA also reports that 34 percent of alumni teach at their placement schools for a third year. Many others go on to teach elsewhere, especially at KIPP charter schools and other schools founded by TFA alumni. Still others train for administrative positions, and TFA now reports that 63 percent of its alumni are working or studying in education^[9]
-- but not necessarily as classroom teachers, which has raised some criticisms of the organization.^[10]

Similar programs

★ Teach Kentucky - Teach Kentucky recruits select grads to teach in Kentucky public schools - participants receive full salary, benefits, credentialing, and subsidized masters degree. A program founded by Yale alumni concentrated in greater Louisville area with great peer and community support.

★ NYC Teaching Fellows - A program that recruits, selects, and trains mid-career professionals and recent college graduates from all majors and backgrounds to become teachers in NYC public schools. It is responsible for up to 1/3 of the teaching staff in the city. While teaching, Fellows earn full salary, benefits, and a subsidized Master's Degree in education.

★ Mississippi Teacher Corps - A two-year teaching program based in the Mississippi Delta. The Teacher Corps selects about 10% of all applicants. Participants receive teacher certification and a full scholarship for an MA in Education.

★ Teach First - A UK program based on Teach For America. It places graduate students in inner city teaching positions. The scheme also gives participants the opportunity to gain a management and business qualification, through the form of a 'mini' MBA at Tanaka Business School.

References

1. Summer Institute TFA
2. TEACH FOR AMERICA PLACES LARGEST-EVER CORPS, EXPANDING ITS IMPACT TO 26 REGIONS NATIONWIDE Teach For America
3. Placement regions - Denver TFA
4. Teach For America Coming To Jacksonville
5. The Effects of Teach for America on Students: Findings from a National Evaluation Decker, Paul; Mayer, Daniel; Glazerman, Steven: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
6. Does Teacher Preparation Matter? Darling-Hammond, Linda; Holtzman, Deborah; Gatlin, Su Jin; Vasquez Heilig, Julian
7. Study stirs teaching controversy Toppo, Greg
8. Learning Curve Gillers, Gillian: Current Magazine
9. Program TFA
10.

See also

★ Alternative teaching certification

External links

★ Teach For America

★ TeachFor.Us :: the Teach For America teachers' blog community

★ A study done in June 2004 by Mathematica Policy Research (pdf)

★ Stanford Study

★ Boston Globe Editorial on Teach For America

★ Miami Herald feature on Teach For America

★ "Who Killed Teach For America?" - ''TIME''