Teach For America (TFA)

Teach For America (TFA) is a non-profit organization that sole purpose is to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes by recruiting recent graduates and career changers to teach in low-income urban and rural schools for a two-year commitment. TFA was founded in 1989 with 500 teachers in six communities. Teach for America now has more than 60,000 alumni teaching in 52 regions throughout the United States. The areas in which TFA works in are mainly rural and urban areas, including The Greater New York area, Miami-Dade, Mississippi Delta, and the Washington D.C. region.

Over the past 25 years, Teach for America has tried to increase their diversity in order to have a more representation in their classrooms. Teach for America had to increase its diversity because many people began to frame it as ‘ white peoples chance to be saviors’. ‘Deficit rhetoric that suggests Black youth and other students of color are broken and in need of saving has historical roots in political and educational discourse and is a widespread frame within neoliberal ideology (Lipman, 2011a); from ‘‘culturally deprived” to ‘‘disadvantaged” to ‘‘at risk,” deficit labels have defined these youth and the educational challenges they face for decades.’ (Beatty, 2012; Martinez & Rury, 2012). TFA had to rebrand itself in order to change that narrative. According to the TFA website, the current cohort of TFA corps members is made up of almost 50 percent people of color (which is a larger percentage than years past), 43 percent Pell Grant recipients, 33 percent first-generation college students, 11 percent LGBTQ people, and even includes 40 DACA recipients.

Teach for America states that its mission is to ‘enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation’s most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.’ (Teach for America, 2018) TFA is one of the most controversial non-traditional teacher pathways that exist. Teach for America prides itself on molding future leaders of America ( most of whom never considered education) into “lifelong” educators or at least that is what the creators of Teach For America envisioned.

There is no doubt that Teach for America’s mission and goal is notable but many critics claim that Teach for America is not helping but hurting the communities that need it the most. The impact of these ‘future leaders’ are highly debated because it is no secret that there is a teacher shortage nationwide but the areas that are greatly affected are lower-income communities. In the Teach for America article, it talks about the 25th celebration in which TFA celebrated their 25 years and their alumni count of 42,000. But, this does not mean that all 42,000 are still teachers in fact studies have shown that most people leave after their second year. In the book The New Democratic Professional in Education, it states that ‘This has created a teacher gap—more students, fewer teachers—as the population continues to grow, but the public sector doesn’t. According to Elise Gould (2016) of the Economic Policy Institute, since 2008, there has been a shortfall of 372,000 jobs for teachers in the United States.’ (Anderson & Cohen, 2018). There is a teacher-shortage everywhere but the teacher shortage is affecting students in lower-income areas the most. ‘Hitting low-income areas the hardest, the teacher gap has resulted in larger class sizes, fewer paraprofessionals, and fewer extracurricular activities.’ ( Anderson & Cohen, 2018) This has been seen in many NYC schools that were already overcrowded, understaffed and failing academically.

One attempt to improve the teacher-shortage would be to recruit young people who are interested in bridging the educational opportunity gap. On the other hand, Teach for America, is not going into wealthier neighborhoods with these inexperienced teachers, these teachers generally teach to low-income students who generally need the most highly trained and highly skilled teachers. This is not to say that all inexperienced teachers are bad but if not given the proper training these teachers will generally struggle in their first year which defeats the mission and adds to high-turnover. Many of these high-turnovers in lower-income neighborhoods are due to lack of resources and training. Many recruits are placed in cities and towns that they are not familiar with and generally many new teachers do not know how to address out-of-school factors.

As a part of the TFA process ‘corp members’ are required to attend a month-long training program in the summer between graduating from college/ quitting their previous place of employment and beginning their new career as a teacher. Within this month, Corp Members are taught the basics of being a teacher, many might compare this to student teaching. Although, because of the short time period this experience cannot be compared to student teaching which is provided in traditional teacher education programs.

At Institute, CMs work in classrooms that reflect what they’re going to teach in the fall, and they receive specialized training in that subject area. But, If CMs haven’t been placed before the summer, though, all of Institute’s invaluable training may miss its mark. Because of this, Most corp members are teaching subjects differently then what the state tells them they can since most of the classes taught are summer school. “TFA prides itself on placing upwards of 90% of its corps members in classrooms in each affiliated region. But the design of its placement process doesn’t reflect the priority TFA professes to put on it, and TFA’s mismanagement of resources around placement ultimately impedes the effectiveness of its training.” (Avellan , 2015) Although, this experience is valuable because you are learning how to interact with students; Many corp members are at a disadvantage because they are not getting experience in their assigned subject/grade, therefore, they are not prepared properly to enter the classroom in September. Because of this Teach for America is already setting their teachers up for failure.

As of the past two years ( 2016-2018) TFA NY has decided to take a monopolistic approach and require that all TFA corp members enroll in Relay. This decision impacted many corp members in the 2016 class because many did not want to attend Relay. Relay has begun to have notoriety amongst young professionals who need a pathway to teach because of price and availability but is still in its beginning years and has not mastered how to truly mold young professionals into teachers. In order to prepare incoming teachers, corp members must attend summer sessions led by Relay GSE for training. Included in the summer training provided by Relay GSE are short lessons in pedagogy, content and classroom management. Students who are successful throughout the summer and complete their training receive some credits for their work. Once placed for the school year, TFA teachers must continue coursework in local colleges provided by TFA to pursue full teaching credentials.

Teach for America, is supposed to support members throughout their two-year commitment and assign directors to each school that ‘support’ their members. In a 2018 survey conducted by Whitney Helton, out of the 10 people surveyed 15 people felt that TFA did not adequately support them in their first year; and relays training although a little supportive was not the program they thought they would be in when they originally joined TFA in 2016. Members also cited that they needed more support around in the classroom practices and overall teacher mental-health support.

Teach for America also has a complicated relationship with charter schools. Many of the charter schools that TFA have a partnership with would be described as paternalistic schools like Kipp, Democracy Prep, and Success Academy. Many of these schools have a high-turnover and work their teachers to the point that many leave. These schools also often miss the mark of helping students to address those out-of-school factors that may be impacting them academically. Whitman describes paternalistic school approach which is described as ‘an institution that teaches students not only how to think but how to act according to what is commonly termed middle-class values.’ This style and approach has many downfalls. These ‘militaristic schools’ teach students that they need to change their attitude in order for them to obtain social capital. When in all actuality, students from lower-income areas (in my opinion) have more social capital because they have to learn how to function in all areas.

Whitman describes the impact that ‘no-tolerance’ schools have had in certain neighborhoods, as a positive impact. Whitman states, that many of the schools mentioned are similar in that they have extended day and reduced summer vacation Whitman found that this structure helped keep students from low-key income areas on a strong academic track. According to Berliner, ‘research suggests that, as a function of family dynamics, income, parental education, and so forth, poor children do not grow in achievement during the summer as much as middle-class children.’ (Berliner, 2009) This quote would actually confirm Whitman’s statements that less summer vacation helps keep lower-income students on track academically. But, with this in mind, many teachers leave because of this demand that is put on the students. Many teachers feel helpless in these environments. When interviewed a former TFA member sited that she felt like TFA should have been more hands-on in the paternalistic schools and supported them more. TFA provides many teachers to schools like KIPP so they should have a say in how these schools are run and how their teachers are treated.

Since many TFA corps members are fresh out of school graduates and don’t know how to advocate for themselves many corp members wouldn’t dare speak out against the impossible demands placed on them by their schools. For example, many no-excuses schools require lesson plans weeks in advance,50 hour work weeks, few off-periods during the day, and the distribution of teacher’s cell numbers to students and parents. Many charter schools required that teachers be on call to answer and return school-related calls and emails until 8 PM every weeknight and even weekends. Along with the impossible requirements many of the TFA-Charters are not teaching the whole child but are teaching to the test. Corp members in charter school teachers are taught to ‘backward-design,’ or build lesson plans from objectives that are tested on state exams such as regents. Yet, this has created a classroom environment that’s very focused on test scores. Teach for America also requires that their corp members send them their data tracking system, which they use to evaluate teachers. This only adds more pressure to the already stressed out corp-member that is lacking the support.

In the Teach for America article, it mentions schools such as KIPP, Uncommon Schools, Achievement First, or YES Prep Public Schools. All of these branded ‘no-excuses’ schools were founded by TFA affiliates and alumni. This is not to say that these school mentioned above are not successful despite their horrible teacher turnover rates but it makes me wonder how Teach for America is preparing their corps members. Why is it that these schools led by TFA members opted for a ‘no-excuses’ school? Rather than a different type of approach. There are many schools such as C.A.S.A which is a publicly-funded school which prides itself on not teaching to a test, but teaching so that their students can go on and be agents for change. I wonder if members are better prepared, and had more opportunities for professional developments other than what is currently offered if it would cause these educational leaders to take a different approach. Additionally, many TFA alumni are opening and running charter schools. ‘An entire private parallel system to public education has been created in the United States with its own teachers (e.g., Teach for America)’ ( Anderson, Cohen 2018). I also wonder if TFA realizes that its practices are leading to the privatization of schools.

“Despite their wide appeal across political affiliations, charter schools’ popularity coincides with core elements of neoliberal ideology (Lipman, 2011a; Wells et al., 2002). Furthermore, some charter schools are supported by corporate (private) donors and are controlled via business models by for-profit education management organizations (Lipman, 2011b; Miron, Urschel, Mathis, & Tornquist, 2010).” This became more evident when Teach for America sent out an email to all corp members when all students were taking a stand against gun control. TFA stated that if members walked out with students they will lose their Americorp grant. One must begin to wonder why standing in protest with your students for a good cause would grant a member losing their status with Americorp? Isn’t part of being a good teacher allowing students to use their voice in positive ways to be forces of change? Many members including myself began to wonder who might be funding TFA that this would affect. Elites shower both TFA and charter schools with private contributions from their own tax-exempt foundations. “Companies such as, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, The Walton Foundation (Walmart), The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Eli Broad Foundation, and a small army of billionaire hedge fund managers are just a few representatives of the corporate class that bankrolls TFA and the various networks of privately managed (but taxpayer funded) charter schools.” (Sommer, 2014) These companies often have an effect on policies and can influence our school system.

Proponents of TFA and charter schools believe that if lower-income students have more choices in schools, it would force all schools to increase the quality of education but the opposite actually happens. As more charter schools open, and TFA fills those seats public schools generally lose their top performing students to charters which than forces them to lose the little money they get. Most public schools are already underfunded and with more charters opening it is causing more public schools to downsize or close their doors. A teacher told Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, her ‘choice policies,’ meaning charter schools and private schools receiving vouchers, were draining traditional public schools of resources in his state. Because many charters have outside funding they are able to provide higher salaries and better resources to their students. Again, leading to the privatization of schools. At this point, you may be wondering what does this have to do with Teach for America. The answer is simple, everything. Again, many TFA members end up in these charter schools, that are potentially taking from local public schools.

Additionally, since charters are not unionized many teachers are put under pressure to perform and are put under the evaluation microscope using evaluations such as Danielson rubric and Michelle Rhees teacher criteria. ‘After 2009, the year in which the Obama administration introduced Race to the Top, standardized testing in K–12 schools was gaining unprecedented importance.’ ( Anderson, Cohen 2018) Many teachers are struggling to get organizations like TFA and their school partnerships to understand that they are coming in new to the profession in some of the cities lowest-performing schools so performing a miracle might be difficult. Additionally, performing a miracle without true support from TFA is difficult. TFA corp members I interviewed stated that they never had much interaction with TFA after their first year. Therefore, without actual ongoing support, these expectations are sometimes unrealistic. ‘Increasingly, test scores would be used in teachers’ annual evaluations and in decisions related to their compensation—highly controversial moves, but supported by enough policy entrepreneurs and policymakers at all levels of government to make them a reality.’ ( Anderson, Cohen 2018) Teach for America does not address this properly, teachers should not be held to this standard when schools have failed students repeatedly for years before they get to that teacher. I do however agree that these students deserve the best education that can afford to them. But, realistically progress can be made but it would be an uphill battle since many students who have been passed through the system lack the skills needed to perform on some of these exams. Not to their fault, but due to the lack of resources given in younger grades. I think that TFA does not provide the resources necessary to ensure that corps members can meet this criterion.