Teach for America: 2 years

Teach for America is a two year program. Most teachers get the hang of teaching at the end of their second year. That's a problem. My principal told me during my mid year review, "the learning curve is just so high. Two years. That's about what it takes and then you will be a good teacher. You are growing so much, but you start out with nothing." I smiled and nodded and thought to myself, "I am so glad I will be good at this as soon as I am finished with it." My principal is one of many experienced educators who have told me that it takes two to three years before a teacher can get the "hang of things."
This week, I also had an interesting conversation with an expert data analysis coach. She explained, "Well, most of your students came from classrooms where teachers were inexperienced. They were in their first or second year. So, you can expect your test results to be lower. First and second year teachers almost never get their students where they need to be. Their students are guinea pigs. Unfortunately, someone has to be. What makes it all worthwhile is that they will become good teachers after those first two years and then really make a difference." So, I don't need to worry about my low standardized test scores because the administration will automatically take into account that my students came from classrooms where first and second year teachers were messing things up. That doesn't bode well for the students in my classroom. They have now had a first year inexperienced teacher for two years in a row.