Teach for America?

[OCD or Perfection?]

To your first question, no. Again, when people disagree with you, they are not "bashing" necessarily. I pointed to a frequent criticism of TFA, which I did not support with anything, whether that source was academic or otherwise--a point td21230 pointed out.

Sorry, I was not referring to you when I spoke of the people bashing TFA. You presented a couple of thought through questions...I was directing this to people who have portrayed TFA as the next worst thing after sin.

[td21230]

Well, yes, we would have to define what kind of attrition we are talking about (i.e., term of commitment, exceeding beyond initial commitment), and perhaps focus on effectiveness and attention separately. When I look at "Google", I see a number of "Google links" expressing concerns along both fronts, to say the least.

 

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/10/04/kappan_donaldson.html [2/3 stay, but few actually stay long enough in context to fully develop]

 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/a-new-look-at-teach-for-americ.html

 

http://www.greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Heilig_TeachForAmerica.pdf [The original study from the above article]

 

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-04-27/story/low-teach-america-retention-rate-examined-duval-embraces-program [as few as 11% teaching in public schools in five years]

 

Do these not count? Or are you more of a peer-reviewed only kind of person?

 

Thanks. I do take issue with the Heilig study. A third of its findings do not isolate TFA CMs and instead lump them in with "other noncertified teachers." (It uses language like, "Certified teachers outperformed uncertified teachers, including TFA teachers...") $70,000 is a very misleading figure for districts; CMs are paid the normal salary for all new teachers on provisional license and $5,000 or so "fee" that covers a small portion of TFA central office staff/ops and CM professional development costs within the region. The remainder of the costs (training, professional development) is covered privately, through AmeriCorps, and by TFA National. The reading studies he cites, however, are compelling to me. I was a below-average reading teacher during my first year in the classroom. I believe literacy teachers need a more comprehensive, experience-based training to be effective during their first year. It will be interesting to see if TFA's new senior year training model makes a difference in this area.

 

Also, as noted, attrition depends on the district and the question asked. Do TFA teachers leave high-needs classrooms at a much higher rate within four or five years? Absolutely--TFA's mission is to achieve educational equity by cultivating advocates for kids within and outside of education systems. It's mission is not to steward tens of thousands of career teachers. However, to say that a disproportionate number of teachers leave during the school year or after their first year of teaching is unsubstantiated at best.

[JackOfStyle]

 

Also, as noted, attrition depends on the district and the question asked. Do TFA teachers leave high-needs classrooms at a much higher rate within four or five years? Absolutely--TFA's mission is to achieve educational equity by cultivating advocates for kids within and outside of education systems. It's mission is not to steward tens of thousands of career teachers. However, to say that a disproportionate number of teachers leave during the school year or after their first year of teaching is unsubstantiated at best.

 

This is exactly it. TFA does NOT want the majority of its teachers to stay in the classroom. It wants to identify promising future leaders and give them a taste of the educational struggles and injustice faced by disadvantaged populations and those who serve them, with the hope that these people will work to change the educational system for the better in their future careers - be that politics, law, school leadership, whatever. (This is the normative view - some might say this mission has been complicated by the agendas of the private corps/foundations who support TFA financially). 

 

I valued my TFA time and it did get me permanently into education, though I am no longer a classroom teacher. If you want to be a career educator, though, you're better off with a traditional training experience.