Members teach summer school during the day and attend teacher training in the afternoons. The virtual training, held for four weeks from June to July, brought all 3, corps members together at once. They decided to focus on instruction and pedagogy; learning environments since some would teach in person, and others in hybrid or fully virtual settings ; diversity, equity and inclusion; and reflection.
The training included six hours a day of synchronous learning, then asynchronous work later for reading, reflection and lesson planning. It was intended to be as rigorous and high quality as an in-person experience, Parham says. During the virtual summer training, corps members taught reading and literacy virtually to children in grades K-3 through the student-coaching company Springboard Collaborative, as a way to practice engaging with students, working through lessons, setting and reaching goals, and meeting with parents and families.
Teach for America also used a platform, Teaching Channel, so corps members could watch existing videos of teachers giving lessons in a class, as well as record and upload videos of themselves teaching.
Corps members were broken up into cohorts of people for most training, and then divided into pods of four or five, Parham says. In their pods, they would rehearse lessons for the first time with each other, which for many can be intimidating or make them feel vulnerable.
After the four weeks, corps members did some additional training within their regions. They will also each receive ongoing support and professional development from Teach for America during the first three months of the school year.
Parham says she and her colleagues were bracing for the reality that many corps members may want to defer their spots for another year. Corps members committed to Teach for America with expectations of working alongside colleagues and teaching students in person—an experience that some may not get at all this year. They are doing incredible work, not only for our students, but for this country. Something that the vast majority of corps members—and all first-year teachers, for that matter—will be bringing with them this fall is their own experience with virtual learning.
Islam, who will be teaching high school math in the South Bronx, says that all of his classes at Tufts University moved online in the spring, and he finished his senior year remotely. I took differential equations. So I have a better understanding of the type of challenges my students might feel learning math virtually—especially with engagement. Why did I feel unengaged? This Site. Google Scholar. Eric Isenberg Eric Isenberg. Author and Article Information. Eric Isenberg. Online Issn: Education Finance and Policy 15 4 : — Cite Icon Cite.
You do not currently have access to this content. View full article. Sign in Don't already have an account? Client Account. You could not be signed in. Sign In Reset password. Sign in via your Institution Sign in via your Institution.
The staff recruited college graduates during the fall and spring , and held their first training institute in summer Ibid. The organization's entire administrative staff was composed of recent graduates who had virtually no business or management experience.
However, they all shared the same passion and vision that shaped Teach for America, and they worked tirelessly to make it successful. In its 28 years of operation, Teach for America has had some difficult financial times, even on the verge of bankruptcy more than once. The staff was so focused on education goals that they neglected the internal operations of the organization, causing them to run inefficiently and without needed structure.
In , Wendy Kopp and her staff, with the help of some prominent leaders in the business community, reorganized Teach for America to become a strong solvent organization that had good strategic planning, a strong focus on program development, and a responsible fundraising strategy Ibid. The growth of the organization since its inception is astounding. In its first year of operation, it received applicants and chose teachers for the program Ibid.
It had a staff of five with twelve recruiters who traveled to different universities looking for good corps candidates Ibid. In September , the organization reached a milestone of 50, corps members and alumni, who have collectively taught more than 5 million students across the nations.
In there were 49, applications, and 50, alumni and corps members were teaching in 53 regions. Teach for America TFA is an important example of how the energy and passion of young people can make a difference in the world. It is one of the few programs available that is actively providing a teaching service to underserved communities and trying to change the systemic problems in education.
Teach for America exposes very bright, energetic young people to the socio-economic challenges of children in rural and inner-city communities. These challenges include poor health care, inadequate housing, little economic development, and virtually no early childhood resources. The corps members experience, first-hand, the reality that schools are expected to compensate for these challenges, which inherently causes large achievement gaps between students in low-income neighborhoods and students in high-income neighborhoods.
With their energy and leadership, TFA teachers will inspire students, as well as other teachers, administrators, and policy makers to seek progress, reform and improvement for their communities and schools.
Critics of Teach for America say that the program is not fixing the problems but merely providing a band-aid approach to an already limping system. TFA teachers often feel resentment within their schools from other teachers and they often do not get the support they need from the districts they work in or through TFA support networks. Other critics feel strongly that the 8-week training session at the TFA institute does not give the teachers adequate time to prepare for these difficult classroom situations and cannot possibly replace the student-teaching requirements placed on traditionally certified teachers Ibid.
That being said, the success stories from Teach for America are tremendous. These young people are committed to making a difference, doing whatever it takes to serve their students. This includes becoming involved with their families, providing after school and Saturday morning tutoring sessions, being strong leaders and inspiring students and their families to pursue a good education Kopp, , In an independent study conducted by Kane, Parsons, and Associates after the 10 year anniversary of the organization's founding, results showed that "ninety percent of principals rated corps members as good or excellent on twenty-three indicators of successful teaching, including achievement orientation and drive to succeed, openness to feedback, choosing effective instructional strategies, creating a classroom environment conducive to learning, and working with other faculty and administrators" Ibid.
The alumni of Teach for America have the potential to make substantial and effective changes to this country's educational system because of their first-hand experience in the classroom. In their first 10 years, eighty-five to ninety percent of all corps members finished their two-year commitment to Teach for America. Sixty percent of the alumni are still working in education, with thirty-seven percent teaching and twenty-one percent in graduate school, administration, or working with an educational organization.
Notably, of the forty percent no longer directly connected with teaching, seventy percent of them are in a career that is related to education Ibid. Teach for America has a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusiveness. They are investing in recruiting a corps staff that is diverse in every aspect, specifically those most impacted by educational inequality.
Teach for America is working to interrupt and replace inequitable practices in schools as well as within their own organization. They build authentic relationships across lines of difference and value the unique perspectives and contributions of all in our community Teach for America.
Teach for America depends entirely on donations and grants from private corporations, individuals, foundations, and the government.
This was the first federal money allocated to the organization and was twice as much as what is normally allocated for such programs Ibid. In total, Teach for America has over corporations, foundations, and individuals who donate annually. In addition, they receive state support from four states and local support from twenty-two school districts and city governments. This paper was developed by students taking a Philanthropic Studies course taught at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University in Teach for America.
0コメント