Richard Cohen recently (FAIR Blog, 2/15/11) took to the Washington Post to argue that Teach for America is wonderful because…. Well, it just is. He predicted that the "best teacher in America" is likely to be drawn from the ranks of the program, which draws recent graduates from elite universities into the teaching profession. His only evidence of the greatness of this scheme was that the program is very competitive.
On Sunday, George Will joined Cohen in praising Teach for America–more evidence, if any was needed, that TFA enjoys a great ride in the corporate media. In Will's column, was "Teach for America: Letting the Cream Rise," he explains:
Until recently–until, among other things, TFA–it seemed that we simply did not know how to teach children handicapped by poverty and its accompaniments–family disintegration and destructive community cultures. Now we know exactly what to do.
Will says TFA is "a template for transformation." And the cream is, obviously, rising:
TFA has become a flourishing reproach to departments and schools of education. It pours talent into the educational system–80 percent of its teachers are in traditional public schools–talent that flows around the barriers of the credentialing process. Hence TFA works against the homogenization that discourages innovation and prevents the cream from rising.
As Bob Somerby noted at the Daily Howler, Will offers no evidence to back up his argument. And even Teach for America doesn't make such claims;Somerby points out thatthe TFA websiteoffers this lukewarm assessment:
TEACH FOR AMERICA: Research over time has conclusively shown that Teach For America corps members' impact on their students' achievement is equal to or greater than that of other new teachers.
So this program takes the best and brightest, thetalented cream, and turns them into…average new teachers?
Somerby adds:
Indeed, in a new C-Span tape (click here), Malcolm Gladwell asks Kopp how well TFA teachers perform. To her credit, Kopp abandons her practice of making anecdotal miracle claims and seems to suggest that TFA teachers arenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t a whole lot better than everyone else. (This happens at 0:51. Rather typically, Gladwell shows no sign of having prepared for his session with Kopp, whom he describes as one of his heroes.) By the 1:05 mark, Kopp is back to making a miracle claim about a beginning teacher in Phoenix. But again: Will doesnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t cite any research about such miracles because it doesn't exist.
Luckily for Will and Cohen, tributes to TFA don't require any evidence. Call it faith-based punditry.
About Peter Hart
[...] Teach for America Is Great Because It's Great [...]
Let me see if I can get this straight. The people who claim the TFA is the educational equivalent of "let there be light" would therefore have themselves been educated "in the dark"?
And how then do they have the expertise to judge the quality of "light"? How would they even recognize such a claim to be true themselves?
I read a thorough article about TFA some time ago. And I apologize for not remembering the magazine. Could have been The Nation or The Progressive. Two things I remember: 1) the bright and upcoming teachers in the program typically left after two years. For many it was a means of getting well paying jobs in the private sector; for others, it was more than they wanted to manage. 2) The creators and administrators of the programs are paid megabucks. If anyone else has read this article, please add to this blog. I'll keep searching for my source.
Jonelle
I think i read the same piece.No idea where.They made a very compelling case that this has degenerated into a resume builder
The Fair blog about the Richard Cohen piece on TFA had a number of commenters who referenced an outstanding anti-TFA piece by Barbara Miner in "Rethinking Schools" that was widely reprinted on the Web.
I saw that egregious "interview" by neoliberal hack Malcolm Gladwell and the elite neoliberal fraud Wendy Kopp on C-Span. Education in America attracts such dullards and sycophants.
Even if Teach for America teachers do not perform "at or above average", there are significant indirect benefits of the existence of the program:
1) Increasing visibility of educational achievement gap and demanding attention and action
2) Promoting the use of student achievement data in the classroom and nationally
3) Exposing highly-educated and privileged individuals to the realities of poverty and public education
4) Creating long term advocates for improved education
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As a former corps member, here are a few points
1) If you read studies on TFA teachers, you'll notice that the more recent ones are far more favorable – why? Because TFA really increased its focus on developing strong teachers – admittedly, it was lacking earlier, but the resources they've dedicated to it now is unbelievable and prior to TFA's work on it, there was really no real research done on excellent teaching, by looking at impact on students. It definitely has work to do, but it's a continuously improving process, not a static one.
2) It's hard to measure spill over effects – TFA has completely increased the focus of teacher accountability and using student data to drive instruction…. no teacher college in America would track the results of its teachers after they graduate, before TFA came into the picture… even now, I'm not sure how many do, but I guarantee, that's changing. Furthermore, a lot of TFA ideas penetrate into school systems and there's a lot of collaboration between TFA and non-TFA teachers – again, it is impossible to compare TFA to non-TFA teachers in this environment. TFA is an open book with its resources as are pretty much any of the charter schools that have emerged from the movement. I frequently remember sharing resources with fellow non-TFA teachers while benefiting from their experiences as well– which is what teachers should do – collaborate, not compare.
3) One fact that's conveniently ignored about TFA is the impact of its alumni. 2/3 stay in education, far less than 10% go into the private sector (I think it may be closer to 5% but I can't find the statistic), and even the ones who leave education often continue to work in low-income communities. Furthermore, look at every exceptional charter school system in America and you'll see tons of TFA alumni. KIPP was founded by TFA alums… Uncommon Schools, Achievement First, Lighthouse Charter, etc. etc. – they're all full of TFA alums
4) As Ionas said, without TFA, the discussion on education would be far short of where it is today. The issue was simply not even on the national radar before. Now, the evidence generated by a lot of TFA teachers/alums have shown that it is possible for students from low-income schools to excel. Most of the successes in education in low-income communities have TFA's stamp all over them…. even if it's not TFA alums, it's usually from a similar type of alternate certification program.
The most frustrating thing about this is that teachers shouldn't be comparing themselves to each other. Rather, I'd be much happier if groups of teachers recognized the successes in each other and sought to replicate them. TFA has a lot of amazing things going for it and others that need improvement. Why not utilize some of its amazing resources while collaboratively working to address its challenges? After all – it's like the challenges TFA has are unique to only their teachers.