The Evolution of Teach for America
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and her fellow Teach for America alumni could bring a new approach to education reform
"If Teach for America is a drop in the bucket, then I'm seeing a big ripple," Heather Peske, a TFA alum and former director for teacher quality at the Education Trust. At the TFA alumni summit in D.C. this past spring, founder Wendy Kopp said that one of TFA's roles is to make clear paths to the principalship and to encourage alumni to run for elected office. "We're trying to take good ideas to scale," says David Wakelyn, another TFA alum and a senior policy analyst for the National Governors Association. "And that's one of the things that's so exciting about Michelle: Here is someone who's going to be working to scale."
Though nationally prominent, the District is small enough that education reformers could build momentum to create change. Susan Schaeffler says the opportunity has been a long time in coming: "Way back when we were corps members, we used to say, 'If we ran this place, if we were in charge...' And now, 10 or 12 years later, we are in charge, we are the principals, sitting on school boards, working for D.C. public schools. We can no longer turn around...we need to do it."
Reader Comments
Slander of ellen of DC by Rocky of NC
I stand by my comments - "there is no evidence of it" - hearsay is not evidence. I provided those links so anyone could check and see that for themselves. To make such a specific claim and have a couple only a couple of colleagues making vague comments is pretty weak. Rhee continued to make her specific comments of 13 to 90% long after she knew her only evidence was hearsay.
Is this how you would handle a question about your resume?
Slander of Ms Michelle Rhee by Ellen of DC
Ellen of DC provided a link to an article in the Washington Post as "evidence" to cooroborate her charge that Ms. Rhee was lying when she claimed her students went from 13% to the 90th percentile range. I checked out the site and found this:
Harlem Park's school-level standardized test scores, although not proving or disproving Rhee's assertions, show significant gains collectively among all three second-grade classes in 1993-94 and the three third-grade classes in 1994-95, the years she taught those grades. Three people who worked closely with her at the school and a student say the scores rose in the range Rhee suggested.
Linda Carter, who served as principal of Harlem Park when Rhee was there, said the jump in the achievement level was "dramatic" and the scores were "pretty high."
Michele Jacobs, 38, who taught in a combined third-grade class with Rhee in 1994-95, said: "I honestly would go with what [Rhee] says. . . . She probably is correct. I know it was high gains. It definitely was high gains."
Deonne Medley, who was Rhee's teaching intern, recalled students' scores increasing from roughly the 15th percentile to about the 80th or 90th percentile.
Ellen of DC wrote "There is no evidence for it (Ms Rhee's claim), which Rhee herself was forced to admit when she was questioned about it by the DC City Council over a year ago." That accusation was flatly contradicted by the link Ellen of DC herself provided - as evidenced by the above quotations found in that very article - published, by the way, in the Washington Post, not US News and World Report.
If anyone still has any doubt about the efficacy of Teach for America, do what I do: volunteer to tutor at a KIPP charter school staffed by Teach for American alums. One of my students told me when he first started at KIPP a year ago he was two grades behind and now he is at his grade level - and, I noticed, very proud of his achievement. I was allowed to attend the Christmas award ceremony recently and the first award went to a little girl who had advanced one year in three months. Other students achieved six months work in three. Not everyone got an award but everyone shared in their achievement as a member of the pride (as in lions) - it was a very cute ceremony.
AS far as I am concerned, Teach for America has demonstrated to my satisfaction that ending educational inequality is an idea whose time has come and KIPP is leading the way. I invite everyone to join in and do whatever you can to make that happen, do the research, challenge the nay sayers, write letters of support to KIPP and their ilk. Personally, I am going back to school to get my teaching certificate. If I get good enough, maybe someday they will let me teach at KIPP.
Not enough control, or support, and too many
When I grew up there was close to 30 in a class, and California was known for good schools. Teachers had control of their classrooms, as well as support from their superiors. Though rarely used, discipline, paddling, and suspension were real options. Today due to numbers, there is no way most communities can pay a decent wage to their teachers. I can understand a union promoting an increase in members, but not at expense of their member's standard of living. For the past 15 years schools certainly have not attracted the best and brightest. Presently the few stellar examples of teachers past are like my niece. There is no way her husband would allow her to work in a bad neighborhood. He considers her income usefull for vacations and the occassional new car, but certainly nothing to live off of.
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