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Teach For America, Inc.
Type Non-profit organization
Founded 1990
Headquarters New York, NY
Key people Wendy Kopp, Founder
Website teachforamerica.org

Teach For America (TFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is "to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage The City of New York Wendy Kopp (born 1967 is the founder and president of Teach For America (TFA the national teaching corps A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage "[1]

TFA recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in schools in low-income communities throughout the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the 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. 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. An Alternative Teaching Certification is a License that is awarded to someone who has not earned a traditional Bachelor's degree in Education or a traditional Corps members attend an intensive 5-week summer institute to prepare for their commitment. [2] 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. The City of New York North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers Technically They then serve for two 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). AmeriCorps is a US federal government program partnering with Non-profit organizations public agencies and Faith-based organizations that was created

Contents

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. Wendy Kopp (born 1967 is the founder and president of Teach For America (TFA the national teaching corps Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Since its beginning in 1990, more than 14,000 corps members have completed their commitment to TFA. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) 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. One Day All Children The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way is a 2001 book by Wendy Kopp. 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. [3]

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 Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Kansas City for the 2008-2009 school year. The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States New Orleans&ndashMetairie&ndashKenner is a metropolitan area designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages The Las Vegas metropolitan area includes the Las Vegas Valley a 600-square-mile (1600 km² basin and surrounding areas that is part of Clark County in southern Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Miami-Dade County (often referred to as simply Miami or Dade) is a County located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers Technically New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The City of New York Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, United States and the County seat of Essex County. Phoenix (ˈfiːˌnɪks O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo, The Rio Grande Valley is an area located in the southernmost tip of Texas. South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D [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
  % Acceptance Rate # of Regions
 Operating Budget
2000 4,068 900 22. 1% 13 $10. 3M
2001 4,946 951 19. 2% 16 $17. 0M
2002 13,877 1,731 12. 5% 18 $23. 9M
2003 15,698 1,719 11. 0% 20 $29. 4M
2004 13,378 1,661 12. 4% 22 $34. 0M
2005 17,350 2,226 12. 8%  ? $39. 5M
2006 18,966 2,503 13. 2% 25 $57. 0M
2007 18,172 3,026 16. 7% 26 $70. 2M
2008 ~24,700 ~3,700 ~15. 0% 29 $110M

Educational Impact

Since the founding of the organization, several independent studies have been conducted to gauge the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members relative to teachers who entered the teaching profession via other channels.

In a study published by the Urban Institute and the Calder Center in March 2008, the authors found "that TFA teachers tend to have a positive effect on high school student test scores relative to non-TFA teachers, including those who are certified in-field. The Urban Institute is a Washington DC based nonpartisan think tank that collects Data, conducts policy Research, evaluates Social programs Such effects exceed the impact of additional years of experience and are particularly strong in math and science. " [7]

Mathematica Policy Research also 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. [8]

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. Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E Ducommon Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she launched the School Redesign Network and the Stanford Educational Leadership "In a series of regression analyses looking at 4th and 5th grade student achievement gains on six different reading and mathematics tests over a six-year period, we find that certified teachers consistently produce significantly stronger student achievement gains than do uncertified teachers. Alternatively certified teachers are also generally less effective than certified teachers. These findings hold for TFA recruits as well as others. Controlling for teacher experience, degrees, and student characteristics, uncertified TFA recruits are less effective than certified teachers, and perform about as well as other uncertified teachers. "[9] "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. "[10] 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. Statistical models are used in Applied statistics. Three notions are sufficient to describe all statistical models In Statistics, the coefficient of determination, R 2, is the proportion of variability in a data set that is accounted for by a statistical model 43 to 0. 68). Unlike the Mathematica study, the Darling-Hammond was not a randomized experiment. In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or

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. "[11]

Alternatively, in another independent and peer-reviewed study by the College of Education at Arizona State University, Teach For America was decidedly ineffective at producing equivalent or superior results to traditional teachers, although the study cites the bulk of the problem arising not from a lack of supply of teachers, but from a lack of demand. [12] The study claims that "In reading, mathematics, and language, the students of certified teachers outperformed students of under-certified teachers, including the students of the TFA teachers, by about 2 months on a grade equivalent scale. Students of under-certified teachers make about 20% less academic growth per year than do students of teachers with regular certification. "

Retention

It is reported that between 10 and 15 percent of each Teach For America corps class leaves before completing their two-year commitment. [13] 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. KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a nationwide network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities Still others train for administrative positions, and TFA now reports that 63 percent of its alumni are working or studying in education[14] -- but not necessarily as classroom teachers, which has raised some criticisms of the organization. [9]

Alumni

Notable TFA alumni include:

Similar programs

References

  1. ^ Teach For America (2008). http://www.teachforamerica.org/about/index.htm Retrieved 18 March 2008
  2. ^ TFA (2006). Summer Institute. TFA. Retrieved on 29 August 2006.
  3. ^ Teach For America (2007). TEACH FOR AMERICA PLACES LARGEST-EVER CORPS, EXPANDING ITS IMPACT TO 26 REGIONS NATIONWIDE. TFA. Retrieved on 14 August 2007.
  4. ^ Teach For America Coming To Jacksonville
  5. ^ Childress, Stacey; President and Fellows of Harvard College (2005). Teach For America 2005.
  6. ^ BusinessWeek (2005). Teach for America Profile For Young Professionals.
  7. ^ Urban Institute http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411642
  8. ^ Decker, Paul; Mayer, Daniel; Glazerman, Steven: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (2004). The Effects of Teach For America on Students: Findings from a National Evaluation. MPR. Retrieved on 29 August 2006.
  9. ^ a b Darling-Hammond, Linda; Holtzman, Deborah; Gatlin, Su Jin; Vasquez Heilig, Julian (2005). Does Teacher Preparation Matter?. Stanford University. Retrieved on 23 September 2007.
  10. ^ Toppo, Greg (2005). Study stirs teaching controversy. TFA. Retrieved on 29 August 2006.
  11. ^ TFA (2003). Teach For America Announces Results of Nationwide Principal Satisfaction Survey.
  12. ^ College of Education: Arizona State University (2002). EPAA Vol. 10 No. 37 Laczko-Kerr & Berliner: The Effectiveness of "Teach for America".
  13. ^ Gillers, Gillian: Current Magazine (2006). Learning Curve. MSNBC. Retrieved on 29 August 2006.
  14. ^ TFA (2006). Program. TFA. Retrieved on 29 August 2006.

See also

External links

An Alternative Teaching Certification is a License that is awarded to someone who has not earned a traditional Bachelor's degree in Education or a traditional The Peace Corps is an independent United States federal agency. or is a Japanese government initiative that brings college ( University) graduates—mostly Native speakers of English —to Japan as Assistant Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and
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