Several of my friends have shared and/or commented on the recent satire piece targeting Teach for America (TFA) from the Onion, which has forced me to reflect heavily on both my criticisms of TFA and those most commonly voiced by the public. In the interest of leaving well enough alone on their respective Facebook pages, I’ve decided to lay out my thoughts here.
First, let me cite my sources for those who don’t know me well: 2 semesters of English pedagogy training at the University of Arkansas; 3 semesters teaching Composition I and II at the University of Arkansas; Texas Teaching Certification in English; 2 years as Teach for America Corps Member; Faculty Advisor for Teach for America Training Institute; 42 Graduate hours in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies; Curriculum Writing for Tulsa Public Schools; various trainings in creativity and diversity for the classroom; nearly a decade as a social activist for equal rights.
I didn’t feel comfortable directly quoting folks from the various Facebook threads, so I’ll paraphrase and then respond to the most common accusations/claims/misconceptions. Before I do that, let me say that I am not a die-hard TFA fan. I criticized the organization harshly, and I did so often. They’re not a perfect organization by any means, but the public has an absolutely skewed view of the program and I hope to shed at least a little light on that.
“TFA is a band-aid. We need to address the systemic racism in public education.” – Kudos. Those frustrated with the systemic racism in our school system are lightyears ahead of many. You’re absolutely right. We do need to address the systemic racism, which is precisely what TFA teaches its corps members to do. TFA trains corps members to identify the biases and prejudices all around them, as well as those that corps members bring to the table. They further require that corps members read, discuss and act upon the latest research surrounding racism in the curriculum, racism in standardized testing, etc. Corps members (CMs) do not perpetuate the system. They work within it, since that’s the only way to truly change any system, pushing for changes at the school, district, state and national levels. Many pursue law degrees and go into education policy to have a larger impact, using their experiences in the classroom to provide perspective for the hordes of policy makers (and activists) who have no idea what it’s like to be a teacher.
“New/inexperienced teachers can never be as effective as veteran teachers.” – If that were supported by data, TFA would not continue to place CMs across the country. Districts ask for CMs because they show, on average, twice as much growth and improvement in struggling schools as their veteran counterparts. This does not mean that CMs are better teachers than veterans. CMs are trained specifically to address the inequity in public education, which means that their focus is putting students on a level playing field and changing students’ mindsets so that they continue to grow throughout their respective educations. CMs are sponges. They love ideas, and they love differing perspectives. What makes most CMs so effective is the willingness to learn from those around them, so what is really working in most schools is the combination of new and veteran teachers. CMs bring energy; veterans bring insight, wisdom and years of trial and error. Put the two together and you get results. It’s also said that many CMs are just terrible teachers. True. So are many veteran teachers. It’s not an easy profession by any means. We need to fix the system by making it easier to target ineffective teachers, give them the support they need to improve and, if they don’t improve, take them out of the classroom. Is this harsh? Yes. Do these teachers have families and bills? Yes. Does any of that matter when they are responsible for other people’s children? Not one bit.
“CMs are spoiled rich kids who can’t relate to inner-city youth.” Wow. The prejudice in this mindset is just as dangerous as the systemic racism in public education. TFA recruits at hundreds of universities. The majority of its recruits come from top schools, including the most prominent Ivy League schools. What does that tell you about CMs? Not a damn thing. CMs are individuals, just like anybody else. Are some from high-income, comfortable backgrounds? Sure. Are some first-generation, low-income students who got scholarships and capitalized? Absolutely. Are some from small universities, struggling to make ends meet and on food stamps? You betcha. It’s simply unacceptable to assume anything about CMs, just as it is unacceptable to assume anything about anybody else. Further, CMs are specifically trained to work with students from targeted backgrounds depending on their respective placements. Some are trained to work with students on reservations; some are trained to work with inner-city minority groups; some are trained to work with rural students in segregated schools (yes, really). The point is, CMs have countless hours of training to prepare them for the students they’ll be working with.
“Five weeks of training is not enough. CMs have no support when they start teaching.” – Actually, TFA has two approaches to certifying teachers. In some regions, TFA has developed a program with the state department of education and certifies CMs itself. This means that the state has approved a two-year, ongoing program of development that merits full certification, meaning that the program aligns with teacher certification programs at universities throughout the state. In other regions, TFA partners with a local university or certification program that is accredited by the state and CMs pursue certification like any other teacher. So, in addition to the much publicized 5-week summer school, CMs spend 3-4 weeks training in their regions before their first year, then come together at least once a month with mentor teachers and colleagues for professional development retreats, making them arguably the most well-supported new teachers in the country.
“Our struggling students can’t be guinea pigs for new teachers while they learn how to teach.” – This one I find very interesting. There’s public outcry about the failure of school systems to address and close the achievement gap for minority and low-income students, yet we don’t want to try something new? I’m confused. If the status quo isn’t working, try something new. If it doesn’t work, try something else. Guess what? CMs see growth. They track it at least once a month, and their mentor teachers intervene if students are not reaching their respective goals. So yes, struggling students can work with new teachers to figure out what works for them.
“TFA has terrible attrition rates.” – This one is just false. The fact is, teaching has terrible attrition rates. New teachers last, on average, three years in the classroom. CMs last, on average, three years in the classroom. When you compare the number of CMs with the number of traditionally certified new teachers who teach for two, three, four, or even ten years – the percentages are the same.
“The research says…” – Unless your research extends beyond newspaper articles tearing down TFA, your research is meaningless. You have to include research from all sides. Test scores are public record. Take a look at any district in the five years before CMs arrived and compare it with scores today. That’s solid research. Don’t trust tests? Awesome. I don’t either. For better research, read Teaching as Leadership or any number of data-centered articles about the effectiveness of CMs in the classroom. Why do you think more and more districts bring in TFA? They’ve got to have numbers to back up the pitch. Take a look at them. Compare them with research from the other side. Inform yourself. Then come talk to me.
“TFA seeks privatized education and breaks up unions.” – Patently false. CMs are urged to join their respective unions, and their mission is to repair a broken public education system. Are charter schools currently a better option for some parents? Yes. Because the problem isn’t fixed yet. Make no mistake. The goal of TFA is to put itself out of business. The way to do that is not charter schools, it’s effective public schools in every neighborhood across the country.
“College kids aren’t prepared for the task ahead of them.” – Our culture distrusts recent college graduates. I find that absurd since we, as a culture, tell every student to go to college. Once there, we continue referring to them as “kids” despite the fact that many graduate at 22 or 23. When my grandmother was 22, she had four kids, a husband and a nursing job. When my mother was 23, she had a son, a second husband and a steady job. Awesome. Is that the measure of an adult these days? Don’t we specifically tell our “kids” not to get married too young, not to have children until they’re settled, and that they need (at minimum) a college degree + 1 year experience for a good job? We have to reevaluate the way we look at younger generations. What is the measure of adulthood now? How do our “kids” get experience AND a college degree? Last I checked, no one would hire you without experience, so where do you go? I think we, as a culture, need to seriously consider why we preference experience over education, but encourage education over experience.
So what is the biggest problem with TFA? My personal opinion is that TFA, as an organization, has a problem with privacy. I’ve constantly criticized TFA for not being transparent in the community. Transparency would answer so many questions for a public that is, unfortunately, distrusting of anything new. I think that the public understanding of TFA would benefit immensely from public forums, public records of CM training in each region, etc.
I welcome dialogue here, but please keep it respectful. We learn from conflict. We learn from different perspectives. We do not learn from aggressive or intolerant language.
I think you wrote a thoughtful, honest, and helpful piece. As a teacher who chose to complete my degrees in literature rather than education, I am also criticized for being alternatively certified. Thank you for such a comprehensive reflection. I appreciate your candor.
This is really fascinating to me– thank you for sharing!
The research does not support many of the assertions you’re making. For instance, much of the research does not show that TFA CMs get twice the growth as veteran teachers. The only things modestly conclusive is that CMs get slightly better growth than other poorly prepared teachers. And, there is considerable evidence that attrition is higher among CMs (yes, attrition is also a problem for traditionally prepared teachers in low-income schools, but research also shows that more thorough preparation makes it more likely for teachers to remain). It’s true that CMs continue schooling during their two years commitment, but many enter as full time teachers with essentially 5 weeks of training. Sure, after one or two years, they may be qualified, but then far too many leave. Refer to http://reconsideringtfa.wordpress.com/ for links to research and commentary from educators, researchers, and TFA alum. Certainly being more transparent and open would help TFA, but TFA’s problems are more than skin-deep.
I approved this comment because the linked blog provides interesting counter-points. However, I disagree with you on the research. “The research” should always refer to research done either objectively or, if there is no objective research, research studies from both sides. There is strong research to support my claims, arguably stronger than the research linked on the blog you mention. The short-sightedness is apparent almost immediately, as the linked blog includes only criticism of TFA. Any genuine investigation includes both support and criticism of a program, idea, etc. As a general note, TFA members receive far more than 5 weeks of training. CMs do pre-institute work, which is a combination of reading and observation (which looks suspiciously like a semester of student teaching), then teach and train for 5 weeks at a summer school, then train for another 3-4 weeks in their regions before school begins. By the start of the school year, CMs have undergone as many hours of training as most university programs, which commonly use a one-year track to add teacher certification to content majors (Masters of Teaching + Certification).
I appreciate the good that TFA does, but as a music education major I am somewhat bothered by the fact that, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, I would not likely be placed in a music classroom. As much as I would love to to help in struggling schools, I also want to help with what I have gone to school to be certified in. That is my main gripe about TFA…
This entire post is pretty classic TFA. Only two of your points are approaching the truth and the one about attrition rates is just a platitude. The one particular that I would like to address is the research. The majority of research done on the effectiveness of TFA….is done by TFA, and/or its affiliats (i.e. Harvard University). Trackers and big goals are good ways to utilize data in the classroom, but do nothing to prove the effectiveness of TFA in the classroom. There are many schools that won’t hire TFA on principle and there are others that will absolutely only hire them as a stop gap. My final question is, and no one has been able to answer it: Why do 22 year old college grads that want to change the world, not just teach in an inner city school, or way out on the rez on their own. Why is TFA even necessary?
As a member of the Research team at TFA, I want to encourage everyone to check out our “What the Research Says” document: http://www.teachforamerica.org/sites/default/files/Research_on_Teach_For_America_2012_1.pdf
It’s a summary of all the independent research that has been conducted on TFA in the last 10 years, along with evaluations of the methodologies of each study.
In short – there are bright spots and areas of growth. We know we aren’t perfect, but we are working hard to learn about how we can do better.
This is a fantastic post, thank you for writing it. I hope there are a lot of corps members forwarding this to their parents and friends to justify why they’re not awful, opportunistic resume-padders for joining Teach For America.
“The one particular that I would like to address is the research. The majority of research done on the effectiveness of TFA….is done by TFA, and/or its affiliats (i.e. Harvard University).”
If we discount all research done by TFA and its affiliates, we must also discount all research done by its critics. What I mean is, there isn’t a lot of objective research out there. Since we don’t have objective research, we need to consider the research done both by supporters of TFA and their critics, then infer a middle-ground that is more likely to be accurate.
“Trackers and big goals are good ways to utilize data in the classroom, but do nothing to prove the effectiveness of TFA in the classroom.”
This comment is in direct contradiction with the way that public education is shifting as a whole. Trackers are being incorporated into teacher evaluations, school report cards, etc. Thus, state departments view trackers as incredibly accurate in determining effectiveness.
“My final question is, and no one has been able to answer it: Why do 22 year old college grads that want to change the world, not just teach in an inner city school, or way out on the rez on their own. Why is TFA even necessary?”
It amazes me that no one has been able to answer this question. It’s a fairly easy one to address. One reason that recent grads choose TFA is because TFA pays for the certification process. To get certified on one’s own can cost anywhere from $500-4500 depending on the program and region. Most recent grads simply don’t have that kind of money. Another reason that one might apply to TFA is that you are more likely to get placed in a school if you go through TFA. I certified in Texas, interviewed for dozens of positions, and was repeatedly told that I would be hired if I had a single year of experience. After over 80 applications, TFA proved to be the ONLY way for me to get that single year of experience. Many who are called to teach experience similar frustrations and apply to TFA to get a foot in the door. I’m sure there are others, but those two are specific to my own reasons for applying (I was 27, had graduated and taken 42 graduate hours, taught at the U of Arkansas, then certified in Texas, but couldn’t get a district to take a new teacher with no experience – and I was broke, so couldn’t certify in surrounding states).
Thanks for sharing these thoughts. Interesting dialogue. Just curious – your certification costs were covered by Teach For America? Or were they deducted from your paycheck? As an alumna, I’ve not heard of Teach For America paying for any testing or certification costs, and know for certain they don’t in Miami (no certification – just testing costs) or Dallas-Fort Worth (where certification costs just under $5,000)…
The only costs I had certifying for the Oklahoma region were state tests, which I had to pay for. I certified in Texas before applying to TFA and paid for that myself, so it’s possible that my experience was slightly different than most CMs in that regard.
So….the research either confirming the effectiveness of TFA or questioning the effectiveness is moot, therefore we must believe that they are kinda/sorta effective (the middle ground). To get certified takes 12 credit hours and a 95 dollar test. This is what people are giving two years (sometimes) of their life to?
Justin – Most certification programs actually cost about $3500 to complete. Some programs will let you pay that out as you teach your first year, but you still take a huge financial hit. That said, I don’t think most people who apply to Teach for America are solely concerned with certification costs. Clearly, the vast majority of those chosen by TFA each year truly believe that TFA is doing good work and they support the org’s mission.
To comment on certification costs–I am a Milwaukee CM and will be receiving my graduate degree and teaching credential through Marquette University. We receive and AmeriCorps education award (totally the equivalent of a Pell Grant each year) that will be put towards our tuition costs at Marquette. Therefore, most of my colleagues will be taking out additional loans to obtain this certification, while in some areas, where certification is less costly, that AmeriCorps funding can be put towards student loans–but only after each year has been completed.
Fantastic post. TFA is one route to fixing the biggest rights issue of my lifetime. It pains me to see doors closed on kids because of where they grow up, and this is the way I’ve chosen to address it. I’ve been blessed to work with some of the most committed and dedicated teachers I’ve met because of Teach for America, and my fellow CMs and I still struggle with whether TFA is the best course of action. What I’ve realized is that in most situations, the current state of affairs in education cannot be tolerated. I don’t care whose fault it is. We see so many headlines that show that we are failing kids and in turn, our country will fail. And SOMETHING has to be done. We need better teachers. And we need better leaders. Why not give them an avenue where they can do both? TFA isn’t a panacea. But instead of crying on the sidelines, I’m going into the trenches. I will work harder and longer to make sure that I am serving my students to the best of my ability, and I relied on TFA to select me because they think I do have the skills necessary to make sure my students do achieve more because I’m their teacher than if I wasn’t. I can’t wait to learn from veteran teachers, and i’m grateful for the support that I’ve already received from them, whether they were in TFA or not. The CMs I surround myself with agree–something HAS to change. And hopefully TFA can close its doors down one day. I can’t wait to see that happen. But until they do, I do believe that they are committed to giving their teachers the tools and support that will help them be a truly effective teacher.
Wow. That sounds like I’ve drank the Kool-aid. I really haven’t, and I think various criticisms about TFA are totally valid. Its not by any means a perfect or near perfect organization. However, they are making gains. Come sit with a group of my colleagues and see fires that are fueled to do amazing things in the classroom. I didn’t see that fuel in the education classes I took as an undergraduate If TFA chooses the right people for this job, they have the support in place to make them teachers that are worthy of the title. I’m just tired of people complaining about education, then not offering real and concrete strategies to changing the disappointing landscape that my students live every day.
“My final question is, and no one has been able to answer it: Why do 22 year old college grads that want to change the world, not just teach in an inner city school, or way out on the rez on their own. Why is TFA even necessary?”
That’s a great question. I didn’t know the answer myself when I applied to TFA. I was choosing between two other options: teaching in my own working class high school and getting a masters of education at one of the best public universities in Virginia.
I toured the school of education in VA, was really impressed. Right before I left, the dean of the ed school pulled me aside and said, “don’t do Teach For America. You’ll be teaching inner city kids…kids you really don’t want to be teaching”.
Who exactly did she think was going to teach those kids? That’s not representative of all schools of ed, but it saddened my heart to know that the head of the education school that trained most of my K-12 teachers would believe this about poor children.
So then the choice was TFA or some version of “Welcome Back, Kotter” at my old high school. I ended up doing TFA because I was looking for fellowship. I figured if I was going to do something as hard and important as this, I’d better surround myself with a community. My school had a bunch of TFA alums, who took me under their wings and invited me to plan with them. But I also got support from traditionally-trained teachers, many of whom graduated from the excellent UCLA Teacher Education Program, whose mission is “to prepare teachers to become social justice educators”. We all sort of blended together at my school to one big cohort of UCLA/TFA/other social justice types.
I think a lot of TFA alums like that the fellowship thing continues after the corps. There’s a network like any other affiliation – Michigan, Kappa, etc. that you can tap into as you figure out how to continue a career in social justice.
I was seriously considering going it alone, since I was already on the social justice path, but the community-thing was why I decided to do TFA.
[...] favorite response was actually a reference to another blog that shared a really balanced perspective on common critiques of TFA while still leveling some of [...]
This almost makes me want to be a teacher . . .almost. I’m one of those individuals that would rather be in the casket than reading the eulogy. Racism is still out there. Stereotypes are still out there. My father’s side of the family is Mexican, my mother’s side is Irish. Due to the fact that my skin is white I must know nothing about racism and yet I grew up hearing heart-breaking stories about racism during my father’s childhood, I was teased because my last name was Rodriguez, my father was treated like a pedophile because we did not have the same skin color. My maternal grandparents can share stories of being turned down for jobs because they were Irish. I grew up labeled with stereotypes such as I have a temper, I’m a drunk, and ( I don’t know where this one originated) but every child molester within fifty miles tried to approach me because redheads were good in bed. Anyway . . .
Great eye-opening blog. Keep it up!