Ten
years ago Wendy Kopp used her senior thesis to propose the creation
of Teach For America, a national teacher corps of outstanding and
diverse, recent college undergraduates, who would commit two years
to teach in the nation's most under-resourced urban and rural public
schools.
Critics say that the five weeks of training that corps members receive
before going into some of the toughest classrooms in America are
not sufficient, and that allowing under-prepared teachers into the
classroom serves only to diminish standards for teaching.
On this edition of The Merrow Report, John Merrow welcomes Teach
For America's founder, Wendy Kopp,
to discuss the successes, failures, and future of Teach
For America. |
TEACH FOR AMERICA FACTS
There are over 1,000 teachers in the TFA teacher corps each year.
77% of principals who have supervised Teach For America corps members
rate them as better than other beginning teachers.
About 85% of Teach For America corps members complete their two-year
commitment.
54% of alumni extend their tenure in the classroom or take on other
roles in educational leadership including becoming school principals
or founding and running charter schools.
ARTICLES
Education
Week:
"Teacher
Corps' Tough Regimen Tasks Recruits," Jeff Archer, 8/6/97.
Departments:
Letters to the Editor, Joseph M. Sawyer, 11/20/96.
"Unqualified
Teachers: A Predictable Finding,"Dennis L. Evans, 10/30/96.
QUOTES
ON TEACH FOR AMERICA
"The
experience that I had in rural Mississippi was one of the most rewarding
and draining experiences of my life but I would not change it
for the world. I hope others agree that TFA is worth it but it is
not for wimps." -TFA Alumnus "It
was ridiculously difficult, but so worth it. I have nothing
but positive things to say overall..." -TFA Alumnus
"As a principal
for five years...I found TFA candidates to be far better prepared
than regular teachers coming out of a traditional teaching
college." -Principal in a school with TFA corps members
"President
Clinton has joined with this misguided 'anyone can teach' chorus
through his continued endorsement of the ill-conceived and
disastrous fiasco called Teach For America." -Dennis L. Evans,
Director of Credentialling Programs, University of Delaware School
of Education
"I really
like Teach For America, warts and all. For me, it's a powerful
demonstration of the fact that there are lots of highly able,
well-educated young people who feel a calling for teaching." -Kati
Haycock, Executive Director of Education Trust
"Even bright
people who are enthusiastic about teaching find that they
cannot easily succeed without preparation, especially if they
are assigned to work with children who need skillful teaching."
-Linda Darling-Hammond, professor at Teachers College at Columbia
University |
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