Teach for America

Hi all,

I am considering doing Teach for America next year in New York, and I was wondering if there was anybody on this board who is either involved in the program or knows somebody who is that would be willing to talk to me. I really need to talk to someone not involved in the TFA administration and the recruiting process who can give me a more honest perspective of the program. I would really appreciate it... please let me know if you can help me out.

Thanks so much!

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i know a bunch of kids just out of college who decided to do this... their experiences were mostly negative (resentful teachers, not enough training to do the job) but it still is a good program...

I'm not sure if I count as objective, but I'm joining TFA next year as a corps member in Chicago (teaching first or second grade.) Certainly, Teach For America has problems, etc., no program like this is going to be perfect, but they make significant gains with their students and that's what it's really about. In addition, a lot of people don't think about the long-term goals of the program, which aim to put people with these kinds of experiences in all fields (policy, health care, etc.) so they actually have some knowledge of what's needed in the communities they serve.

Also, my cousin is a "regular" teacher in Phoenix and she's said that there were a couple TFA teachers that have kind of rubbed the teachers the wrong way, but that overall, she's really enjoyed having them. If you approach the situation with humility and respect, I think that you can create a positive working environment (and TFA encourages you to do so). Also, it's not like you're taking jobs from more qualified teachers. If TFA teachers aren't there, usually the kids either have no teacher, or are taught by a series of substitutes (who, on the whole, are less qualified.)

In addition, betweeen 85% and 90% of each corps completes their two-year commitment (at least) and 60% go on to continue in the education field.


P.S. I read the article posted above me before I joined TFA. TFA has a totally different story about what happened (of course), as do the other TFA teachers in this guy's school. I don't really remember the story that well, but I do remember deciding that it was at least in large part his own damn fault (of course, you'd have to decide that for yourself...)

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Updated On: 4/11/07 at 08:41 AM