RSS feed: RSS is a web feed format used to publish frequently-updated content. Use this feed in an RSS reader or browser (Safari 2, Firefox 2, or Internet Explorer 7 and higher)
The Tennessee State Board of Education recently released data
showing that teachers trained by Teach For America (TFA) are getting better test scores out of their students than nearly every college of education in the state (the only exception: math teachers from Vanderbilt University). Here's Jane Roberts, reporting in Memphis's Commercial Appeal:
Teach for America, which recruits high-performing college graduates to the classroom from all disciplines, racked up the highest student scores among new teachers in reading, science and social studies. Even compared to students of veteran teachers, students of TFA teachers had the highest test scores in reading. Vanderbilt teachers' students took top honors in math.
Critics have long complained that the program does not adequately prepare its corps members. These numbers seem to challenge that line of attack. It's also worth keeping in mind that TFA only places teachers in high-need, underserved districts. These numbers reflect increasingly talented teachers succeeding under the most difficult circumstances. Don't believe me? Ask a teacher where he or she learned more about how to teach: in child development classes or in front of students. I promise you -- and I have an advanced degree in education -- that it's the latter. TFA's training takes this insight seriously.
Of course, it's important to remember that scoring relatively better than other teachers doesn't mean that the overall results are adequate. In other words, though their numbers were the state's best (by 10 percent), only 42 percent of students in beginning TFA teachers' classrooms scored above the 80th percentile on reading. We can still do better at training our nation's teachers. Of course, we also need to hold teachers accountable if they aren't improving.
Even given the study's constraints (only includes Tennessee colleges of education, only uses test scores to measure effectiveness, etc.), these are striking numbers. As a TFA alum, I find them encouraging! What do you think?
