TFA: Branded 4 Life
by Molly Thacker on May 19 2009 Posted in Class notes
It is a somewhat precarious position I have found myself in, being acknowledged primarily as a Teach For America alumna and secondarily as a District teacher.
I suppose that I should not be too surprised, as the acronym TFA jumps off the page like a flashing warning sign, but the truth is, it caught me off guard. While I am well aware (and share some) of the criticism and skepticism of Teach For America as an organization, I would encourage readers to make room in the dialogue for some good old-fashioned open-mindedness. That is, TFA is part of my story, but it isn’t the whole story.
Just like any organization of which we are a part (including, for me, the School District of Philadelphia), there is a fundamental alignment of ideals that attracts us, but there are also moments of dissonance. While I am a member of the Democratic Party, I do not always agree with everything that every Democrat says.
The most glaring moment of dissonance regarding TFA for me is that it offers a quick fix, a short-term solution to a longstanding problem. The truth is, the reason I stayed beyond my two-year TFA commitment is that two years is not enough. The learning curve for teachers is steep, but it ain’t that steep. By the end of my first two years of teaching, I had learned a tremendous amount about both education and myself but in truth, I had only just begun. It is also true that many of my colleagues did not feel that they would have the most impact by staying in the classroom and so many of them went on to explore other facets of the education field. However, many did end up staying in the classroom, which they had not anticipated. Some even left the classroom, only to return to it.
A Teach For America survey indicates that in 2007-2008, 66% of alumni continued to work in or study education. A large part of this 66% includes TFA alums leading charter schools or studying education policy. However, when examining new teachers nationwide, only 66% of them remain in the district after their first five years of teaching. In light of this, it is alarming that districts across the country are content that many of their new hires have only planned to stay in their school for a limited time. Cycling new teachers in and out of classrooms is a disservice to new teachers, veteran teachers, and students alike. Given that the TFA mission statement focuses on recruitment rather than retention, the onus is on the districts to improve teacher retention.
So again, we find ourselves asking, what is it that makes some people stay in their district and how can we encourage more to do so?
As we all know, the high school dropout rate is a critical problem District-wide. Therefore, I am forced on a daily basis to consider what would make a student want to stay in school and how I can encourage more students to do so. I try to create an environment in my classroom that is engaging, relevant, safe, fun, and welcoming. I do so not only because I think that’s what classrooms should be, but because in some ways I am in competition for my students’ attention with the hallways and the streets (both of which are pretty tough competition).
If I did not actively work to make my classroom a desirable place, I am sure that fewer students would stay. Likewise, I think it would behoove us to consider ways in which our schools could become engaging, relevant, safe, fun, and welcoming places that would make teachers want to stay.
What TFA and I do have in common is that we both see the achievement gap as a paramount problem and are trying to do something about it. Even though I was poised to enter a traditional route of certification upon my college graduation, the immediacy and passion of TFA drew me to it. Does TFA have the perfect solution? No. Does anyone? While I will continue to question and reflect on the impact that TFA has on public education, I will also proudly own my TFA roots and always remain grateful to them for giving me my start as a teacher in Philadelphia.
Comments (16)
Submitted by Christopher Paslay (not verified) on Wed, 05/20/2009 - 19:55.
Molly,
I enjoyed the honesty and sincerity of your post. It doesn’t feel very good to be branded or stereotyped, as Philadelphia public school teachers so often are. Speaking of TFA, you might want to read what the Philadelphia Student Union (co-founded by Notebook blogger Eric Braxton) has to say about your alumni.
One PSU member writes on their website: “Many teachers at my school, West Philadelphia High School, are from Teach for America. This program creates teachers that only need his/her bachelors’ degree, to enter the program. Then they are sent to our schools. Although many Teach for America teachers really want to help, it is difficult as a student to have a bunch of first year teachers who’ve never taught before. On top of that they have a two-year contract that states after two years of teaching they can continue to teach at this school or have the option to leave. The majority of them leave. Now that this teacher is gone another teacher comes in from Teach For America and does the same thing. So as you can see this is only going to get worse.”
Here is the link if you want to read it for yourself:
http://home.phillystudentunion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
You might want to thank Eric and the PSU for helping to create this anti-TFA mentality.
Keep up the good work.
Christopher Paslay
Submitted by Eric Braxton on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 13:15.
Holy unfounded statements, Batman. I don't think I have ever made a statement either in favor of or opposed to TFA, and now I am being accused of creating anti TFA mentality. I may post on TFA in the future. If I do so, I will make every effort to present a nuanced analysis and do my homework. I ask others to do the same and refrain from putting words in other's mouths.
Submitted by dportnoy on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 18:06.
As a veteran Philadelphia School District teacher of 25 years in urban classrooms AND the director of the Teach For America master's and certification program at UPenn, I can't say that I am surprised by the continuing debate about TFA, but I am intrigued by the continuous strong and evocative feelings and comments that come up about it. Part of the issue is that we can't see TFA as either one thing OR the other. Indeed, we need to find ways to support and keep teachers past two years. We also need to support and encourage teaching no matter how long people stay in the classroom. This is true across the board. The PSU students have a legitimate concern about always having "new" teachers in their classrooms in some schools. Other students, at similar schools, have also pointed out that when they want to engage teachers in discussions about classrooms, schools, and quality education, sometimes it is only the TFA teachers who want to participate in this discussion or work with them to improve their schools (see some of the student research published by Research for Action). Veteran teachers who have experience and knowledge are necessary for our schools, but so is the energy and commitment of newer teachers. What I often remind myself is that these young TFA teachers are teaching young people every day, in schools where there are vacancies, in schools where I taught but no longer do teach. I have said this before, and I'll say again, that all of us need to see ourselves as part of a larger community eager to improve educational equity, which doesn't mean we agree about everything. I thank Molly and everyone who participates in this dialogue for trying to articulate their points of view and ideas.
Dina Portnoy
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 21:43.
Enuff...
Enuff...
Are you there?
Holy Unfounded Statements?
How do you define "Holy...?"
Holy Unfounded Statements = Statements that are Religiously Based but can't be proven?
Is this a Philly English teacher...?
Submitted by Helen Gym on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 14:20.
There's a huge difference between relating factual data, student anecdotes, and concerns about programs and creating an anti-TFA mentality. I have been a frequent critic of TFA, but it's hardly about being anti-teacher. There are legitimate concerns in the broader context of what many feel is one of the most primary needs in the District - building up a quality teaching force in an environment which treats teachers as professionals and expects the same in return.
PSU and its leadership has done a tremendous amount toward building and developing models on how to frame teacher quality - far more than plenty of other institutional entities. They are hardly anti-TFA or anti-teacher. Similarly Parents United's focus is less on TFA than it is on how the District plans to bolster and support quality teaching in our schools.
Thanks for writing this piece Molly and starting an honest discussion from a teacher standpoint. Look forward to the dialogue.
Submitted by Paul Socolar on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 00:44.
Molly - No question TFA is a hot button issue for a lot of folks - we've seen that on this blog - and it's great that you're taking that head on.
I recently participated in a class discussion with TFAers in one of their courses at the University of Pennsylvania. It was a very serious and impressive group of new teachers. When asked, I brought up as the most widely held concern about TFA the fact that most teachers do move on after two years and the sense that the schools they were working in really would benefit from teachers who were committed to building long-term relationships and assuming leadership roles in those schools and connecting with those communities. I felt like this group of TFA teachers really understood that need - whether or not they actually end up making longer term commitments to their schools.
You ask whether anybody has the answer. Unfortunately it is not clear that the District has the answer either about how to keep its teachers for more than two years. For the edition we just published, we tried to get updated data from the District about how long new teachers are staying with the District these days. That's one data set we did not get. So at this point we have no way to compare District to TFA retention rates in terms of how many new teachers stay past two years ... I'm sure neither number looks very good.
I look forward to future posts on this and other subjects.
Submitted by selmekki on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 00:03.
My question to the PSU would be if they'd prefer to have long term (or, more often, a series of very short term) subs insted of committed two year teachers. IT is up to the leadership of the school and district to support ALL new teachers to ensure less attrition. It is not the fault of TFA that these tremendous vacancies exist in districts. I find it interesting that folks who come to help are criticized in such a passionate way in quite a few circles. A larger question (and, more appropriate) would be pointing to the turnover rate of ALL new teachers.
Submitted by Eric Braxton on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 10:40.
I should be clear that I DO NOT speak for PSU just because I used to work there. I don't think that PSU should be viewed as the creator of anti-TFA mentality. One student wrote a blog expressing a concern about how long TFA teachers stay in his school. That is a valid concern that should be dealt with on its own merits.
From my own perspective, I certainly prefer to have TFA teachers than long-term subs. I have also known several really great TFA teachers. The problem, in my mind, is not with the existence of TFA. However, if the School District uses TFA and similar programs to deal with staffing problems in hard to staff schools rather than developing a real comprehensive plan to create stable and effective teaching forces in these schools, then that is a problem. TFA provides an important stop-gap where there otherwise would be vacancies, but they should not be our long term plan on how to deal with staffing problems in high poverty schools. So my problem in not with TFA, but with the need for the District to create a real plan to get effective teachers to the students who need them most and create stable teaching forces at these schools.
The only problem I have with TFA is that they mobilized their alumni to prevent the nomination of Linda Darling-Hammond as Secretary of Education because she had raised some concerns about whether TFA was the solution to staffing problems in inner-city schools.
I think whether TFA is good or bad is oversimplifying things and it’s not really the question. The question is, how to create stable and effective teaching forces in the schools that need them the most?
Submitted by EnoughIsEnuff!!! (not verified) on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 23:46.
"Committed two year teachers" is an oxymoron. If you were truly committed you would get your actual certification and stick around alot longer than two years, not just until your college loan was paid off. Long term subs are often teachers trying to get into the district. It's easier to prove yourself if you have been able to run a classroom as a long term sub. than to come in with no experience in the classroom. The teacher across from my room is taking her Praxis soon and has been running a class all year. .
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/23/2009 - 00:30.
Enuff...
Why are you up so late?
Are you an owl?
Submitted by selmekki on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 22:57.
"Running a class" and educating kids are not synonymous.
Submitted by EnoughIsEnuff!!! (not verified) on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 00:24.
Running a class is not the same as educating children, but if you can't run a class you will never educate children. Classroom management is something colleges can talk about till they are blue in the face, but it takes actual experience to pull off. Some teachers get As in college and flunk classroom management. By subbing it does give prospective teachers an edge over booklearning in college.
Submitted by EnoughIsEnuff!!! (not verified) on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 23:12.
The animosity towards the TFA is largely due to the fact that such programs allow the School District of Philadelphia (and others throughout the nation) to avoid confronting the real problems of teacher retention by plugging vacancies with a revolving door of fresh meat. The district needs to focus on why teachers leave this city in droves or new teachers avoid it all together (the lack of respect shown by the 440 crowd, harassment by principals and a general lack of support in terms of supplies, discipline, you name it). Judging from the high turnover of TFA teachers this problem has even impacted their world.
Is it any wonder certified teachers resent TFA "teachers" coming in with little training? One of my colleagues trained TFA recruits last summer and was not impressed with the amount of time devoted to teaching the craft of teaching. With two years teachers are barely getting their feet wet.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/24/2009 - 18:50.
If the BRT...Bureau of Revue of Taxes...is a "mess"...what does that make the Philly School District? Well-run, a model for US industry, dynamic?
If any Philly institution is a mess...it is 440...with its 50 percent drop out rate...
BRT is a mess...my foot...
Submitted by Mike Wang (not verified) on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 12:47.
I thought it worth relaying some facts regarding Teach For America. I've tried to offer this information as factual reference, not to critique any of the arguments for or against TFA that have been made:
- The number of TFA teachers who stay through their first year and then complete a second year is higher than non-TFA teachers whom the district hires and who complete a first year and then a second by a significant margin (roughly 10% according to the Research For Action study on teacher retention).
- a majority of TFA teachers teach in to a third year, 61% nationally with approximately 55% of teachers in Philadelphia. The vast majority (over 90%) at either their original placement school or another publich school serving children from low-income communities.
- By way of example, of the 64 Lindback Teachers of the Year named this year, 6 were TFA alumni. So nearly 10% despite comprising roughly 2% of the overall teaching population.
- 2/3 of Teach For America alumni continue to work in education as principals, teachers, district administration, advocates, etc. with half that number (or 1/3 overall) continuing to teach indefinitely.
- In no way hasTeach For America mobilized its alumni for or against any candidate for the post of Education secretary. While we have our objections to the rigor of Prof. Darling-Hammond's research, we are a nonprofit and do not advocate politically, though alumni of our choose to on their own, same as teachers who belonbg to labor unions or other advocacy organizations.
- The Urban Institute recently released a study examing the question: Do students achieve more in the classroom of a Teach For America teacher in hi/her first or second year or in the classroom of a traditionally certified veteran with more experience. They found the former to be the case because of the selectivity (we turn away nearly 9/10 applicants) and the specialized training we use to select and prepare our corps. The study was peer reviewed and received high marks for rigor and valididty.
- To clarify, we don't aspire to be the sole or even main provider of teachers in the SDP. Rather we think kids deserve to have access to the best teachers regardless of where they come from and how they get in to the profession. We are proud to serve alongside teachers who come to the profession through traditional pathways.
As always, I and my staff are always happy to answer questions about Tech For America. We believe the debate over how to get the best and most qualified teachers in front of the students who need them most is THE essential debate in education reform today.
Mike Wang
Executive Director
Teach For America
Submitted by Helen Gym on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 17:58.
Mike: Thanks for taking the time to post here. Both you and Dina have worked hard to address concerns about TFA in a responsive manner that provides insights as well as alternative perspectives. It's much appreciated by me.
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