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Teach For America

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Teach For America, Inc.
Company typeNon-profit organization
Founded1990
HeadquartersNew York, NY
Key people
Wendy Kopp, Founder
Revenue272,880,995 United States dollar (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
Websiteteachforamerica.org

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).

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:

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 Indianapolis and Jacksonville for the 2008-2009 school year.[4]

Organizational Growth

Teach For America has witnessed sustained growth over the course of the past two decades. The chart below reflects this growth by highlighting the changes in various performance indicators.[5][6]

Year # of Applicants
 # of Incoming Corps Members
 # of Regions
 Operating Budget
2000 4,068 900 13 $10.3M
2001 4,946 951 16 $17.0M
2002 13,877 1,731 18 $23.9M
2003 15,698 1,719 20 $29.4M
2004 13,378 1,661 22 $34.0M
2005 17,350 2,226 ? $39.5M
2006 18,966 2,503 25 $57.0M
2007 18,172 3,026 26 $70.2M

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.[7] 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.[8] "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."[9] 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). Unlike the Mathematica study, the Darling-Hammond was not a randomized experiment.[citation needed]

According to an independent study by Kane, Parsons and Associates Inc., the great majority of principals who work with Teach For America teachers contend that Teach For America corps members make a significant and positive impact in their classrooms. 90% of principals expressed that TFA teachers are as well-prepared to teach as other beginning teachers. 66% believed that Teach For America's training is "better than average."[10]

Retention and alumni

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[11] -- but not necessarily as classroom teachers, which has raised some criticisms of the organization.[8]

In April of 2005, President George W. Bush announced the 2005 National Teacher of the Year was Teach For America alumnus Jason Kamras, who became the first teacher from the District of Columbia's public school system to be given this honor. Teach For America placed him at John Philip Sousa Middle School in 1997, where he has remained as a math teacher.

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. ^ TFA (2006). "Summer Institute". TFA. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Teach For America (2007). "TEACH FOR AMERICA PLACES LARGEST-EVER CORPS, EXPANDING ITS IMPACT TO 26 REGIONS NATIONWIDE". TFA. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ TFA (2007). "Placement regions - Denver". TFA. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Teach For America Coming To Jacksonville
  5. ^ Childress, Stacey; President and Fellows of Harvard College (2005). "Teach for America 2005". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ BusinessWeek (2005). "Teach for America Profile For Young Professionals". {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Decker, Paul; Mayer, Daniel; Glazerman, Steven: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (2004). "The Effects of Teach for America on Students: Findings from a National Evaluation" (PDF). MPR. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Darling-Hammond, Linda; Holtzman, Deborah; Gatlin, Su Jin; Vasquez Heilig, Julian (2005). "Does Teacher Preparation Matter?" (PDF). Stanford University. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Cite error: The named reference "Study_LHD" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ Toppo, Greg (2005). "Study stirs teaching controversy" (PDF). TFA. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ TFA (2003). "Teach For America Announces Results of Nationwide Principal Satisfaction Survey".
  11. ^ TFA (2006). "Program". TFA. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

External links

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