Teach for America gets results
Cleveland Plain Dealer
When it comes to teaching poor youths, an education degree doesn't guaran tee success.
And, in results likely to stir even more controversy between Teach for America, a Peace Corps-like teaching program, and traditional preparation efforts, the unorthodox upstart came out on top in a recent study.
Teach for America started in 1990 as the brainchild of a Princeton University senior. Its premise is that top-notch students from competitive universities can help school districts provide talented teachers to their most challenging schools. Participants complete a five-week summer training camp, then spend two years at their assignments. The concept immediately outraged leaders of established education programs and intrigued countless others. In the years since, Teach for America has enrolled more than 10,000 participants and expanded to 22 sites across the country, but always amid criticism that students would suffer since the interlopers lacked proper education-school coursework.
Previous studies found mixed results for Teach for America, but none involved the kind of nationwide, rigorous examination recently conducted by Mathematica Policy Research Inc., a highly regarded, nonpartisan organization. It looked at scores from 2,000 students in 17 schools across the country and found that youngsters led by Teach for America participants significantly outperformed peers in mathematics. The kids with TFA teachers not only did better than students with other novice teachers - but also those with veteran instructors. How much better? Mathematica estimates that the TFA teachers squeezed an extra month's worth of progress from their charges, compared to all teachers; when compared to the results of novice teachers (those in their first three years) alone, the TFA teachers' gains are essentially comparable to those achieved by shrinking a class by eight students.
Reading scores reflected similar gains between the two groups. Mathematica said additional studies would be required to determine why the trends varied between math and reading scores.
The Mathematica study compared the TFA teachers to those who actually were in these troubled schools, which meant that some of the other teachers - about a third - were not certified, and others came through various nontraditional routes. The clearest difference between the two groups is that 70 percent of the TFA instructors came from colleges ranked "most competitive," "highly competitive," or "very competitive," by Barron's Profile of American Colleges. Just 2.4 percent of the other instructors attended such highly ranked institutions.
In an ideal scenario, the nation's poorest students would be taught by the most talented, experienced and expert instructors the United States has to offer. In reality, sending TFA teachers into such buildings, even for only two years, has a positive effect. The study is a testament to the power of tapping bright, committed youths; when major Ohio districts again are able to hire (rather than lay off) teachers, they should explore bringing Teach for America to town.
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission. |
