Teach for America

[aesculapian]

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... Further, those going in to TFA which the express goal of not teaching do a disservice to their students and the community at large - in general, year 1 and year 2 teachers are not good. There are obvious exceptions here ... but teachers really only "hit their stride" after a couple of years. You are essentially subjecting inner-city, disadvantaged youth to poor teaching for that period of time - as put very well by this delightfully insightful Onion article.

Yes. 👍👍👍

 

[SonyVaio5510]

Agreed.

 

[ace12345]

Agreed.

Let me ask you all something that agree with this, and SonyVaio5510 I'd like to get your thoughts as well because you specifically dug this thread up from 2 days ago to type one word with no explanation (Not that you aren't entitled to your opinion, I just do not see what your purpose was for this in constructing meaningful discussions).

Most of you on this site are used to living in world where teachers stay at a school 5, 10, 15, 20 years. They are experienced teacher, they love what they do, and they are very good at it. You see education in light of this experience.

However, the VAST majority of school in which TFA places corps members have no such teachers, or very, very few of them. To say "I don't like TFA because no one can become a good teacher in two years," makes no sense. These school ONLY have inexperienced teachers, or experienced teachers that may not be that great (Experience does not always equal skill, though again this is not a knock against teaching or teachers in general). Perhaps a number of long-term subs are around as well, which is for obvious reasons not the best situation for students.

Would you not rather our underserved student population be taught by passionate, service-oriented, very talented students from great universities even if only for two years? Do you really think that many students coming out of universities with teaching degrees want to teach for little money in unsafe areas with a pile of undergrad debt to worry about? Very few do, and they should not be blamed for protecting their well-being. In filling this gap, however, TFA teachers can make UNBELIEVABLE differences in students lives that do not have access to a quality education otherwise.

Would it be better for everyone to have passionate teachers with years of experience? Absolutely, we are in total agreement there. Yet that just isn't an option for many students in our nation. This is something I care about a lot, so please feel free to continue this dialogue constructively. Again, my goal here is to inform some of the very intelligent pre-meds on this site who might be inclined to help make a difference. These are my opinions and not those of the official Teach for America organization in any way (I keep saying that because I doubt many have read all my previous posts here).

 

[freshbagels]

However, the VAST majority of school in which TFA places corps members have no such teachers, or very, very few of them. To say "I don't like TFA because no one can become a good teacher in two years," makes no sense. These school ONLY have inexperienced teachers, or experienced teachers that may not be that great (Experience does not always equal skill, though again this is not a knock against teaching or teachers in general). Perhaps a number of long-term subs are around as well, which is for obvious reasons not the best situation for students.

This argument is predicated on the assertion that TFA is indeed sending teachers primarily to districts that are experiencing a shortage of teachers, and that, furthermore, the reason for this shortage is a legitimate dearth of qualified teachers in the area, not that the experienced teachers were laid off previously.

The goal of fulfilling teaching needs in underresourced areas is admirable, and TFA may originally have fulfilled exactly that purpose in the early years of its formation. Unfortunately, that no longer appears to be the case when we look at the recent data.

However, TFA has begun placing teachers not in positions lacking qualified candidates, but in slots previously held by veteran teachers—that is, in districts using layoffs to ease budget problems. The practice of laying off experienced teachers and replacing them with inexperienced TFA teachers—or of "laying off people to accommodate Teach For America"—has been reported in Boston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., among other cities. (8) freshbagels: This exact situation occurred in New Orleans, where I am serving. After Katrina, the legislature summarily fired nearly the entire (90%+) teaching workforce after they closed the district, citing the lack of student presence as the driving factor. This teaching staff - nearly entirely black, native, unionized, and very experienced - were generally not re-hired by the charter schools that replaced the traditional districts, and many of them moved away. We therefore had wholesale replacement of experienced teachers, who were fired for budget reasons, with cheaper replacements like TFA, TeachNOLA, etc.

In fact, an analysis of teacher shortage data across the U.S. tentatively confirms that TFA placements have been moving outside the original targeted high-need districts. Since 1990, the U.S. Department of Education has produced a nationwide listing of teacher shortage areas, based on data submitted by state educational agencies. (9)

All of the states where TFA teachers are placed report teacher shortages by subject area, but a closer look at more detailed geographic data where it is available undermines the initial impression that TFA is working primarily with districts experiencing staffing problems. In the only two states that list shortages by geographic area, Arizona and South Dakota, TFA placements are primarily outside high-need areas. In Arizona, while 13 of 15 counties report shortages, the vast majority of TFA teachers in are placed in one of only two counties that do not report teacher shortages—Maricopa County, which includes the Phoenix metropolitan area. In South Dakota, where TFA has five sites, only one (Todd County School District) is identified as a geographic teacher shortage area. (10)

TFA supporters proffer that TFA is not only about sending teachers to schools facing staffing shortages, but also about improving the teacher labor supply and shaping individuals who will care about education in their future jobs on Wall Street, in Washington, or elsewhere outside the classroom. Whatever the rationale, there is substantive evidence that TFA is not exclusively focused on filling teaching positions for which other qualified candidates cannot be found.