At my last meeting with my Learning Team leader for Teach for America, he told our group that corps members were failing to meet achievement goals across the nation. He also told us that "first year teachers are never good teachers," and that most leaders in Teach for America have little teaching experience. (The number of years he cited was two to three). My Learning Team leader has fifteen years of experience. He felt free to tell us all this information because my Program Director was unable to attend our meeting.
I am interested in discovering whether or not what he told us was true. If anyone knows where this information might be available, please post it. As a current corps member, I find it very difficult to look into any of this. When I broached the subject of attrition rates over the past few years with my Program Director, it was clear that it was not permissible to talk about. A week after our conversation, I received an e-mail from several higher ups in the Teach for America network. I don't feel comfortable asking about teacher experience, attrition rates, or the academic success rate of TFA teachers.
College students who are interested in joining Teach for America should be able to easily find data on the organization so that they can make an informed decision, and corps members are entitled to know exactly how the movement they are a part of is doing. Again, if you have access to any information about attrition, TFA leadership experience, and how the corps has performed in the 04-05, 05-06, or 06-07 school year, please share it. Perhaps I am not looking in the right places. Here is a link to the article and study I cited in my first post. This study concluded that TFA teachers do not significantly out perform uncertified teachers. http://www.ncate.org/documents/EdNews/StanfordTeacherCertificationReport.pdf
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Nicole:
I do think you are being too hard on yourself and on your TFA colleagues. You are certainly making a difference and I saw that for myself when I observed your class. Not all progress will be as immediate or as dramatic as you wish.
One problem with TFA is that they recruit the very top performers who are likely to become frustrated when they don't see quick results. These are people who think the answer to any problem is just more hard work. But even the highly-select TFA recruits have human limits in the face of an incredibly complex national problem.
I support your drive to get hard data on the program as a whole; its the only way to evaluate something objectively. But don't be to quick to dismiss your own value. You don't have the experience of certified teachers, but you bring other skills to the table. Your students benefit from your enthusiasm and your proven ability to succeed in a competitive environment.
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