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Most of the TFA recruits are from top universities-- Harvard, Yale, Duke, etc. And although it says that the minimum GPA for a TFA Teacher is 2.5, anyone who makes it through the rigorous interview process generally has a much higher GPA. TFA chooses the best applicants to be a part of their program. And I guarantee you that someone who majored in math or one of the sciences knows WAY more about math and science then someone who majored in education. The summer training is to teach Corps members HOW to teach what they know. Tulsa pulled in TFA teachers because they have been proven to have successful outcomes for students. These people are dedicated to making an impact with underserved student populations. As for having your student loans repaid, your comments are misleading. TFA is affiliated with Americorps; if you teach with TFA for TWO years, Americorps will forgive up to (approx.) $8000-10000. For most people coming from Ivy League schools or even top State universities, that is only a fraction of their education costs. Do your research before you run off on a rant.
Most of the TFA recruits are from top universities-- Harvard, Yale, Duke, etc. And although it says that the minimum GPA for a TFA Teacher is 2.5, anyone who makes it through the rigorous interview process generally has a much higher GPA. TFA chooses the best applicants to be a part of their program. And I guarantee you that someone who majored in math or one of the sciences knows WAY more about math and science then someone who majored in education. The summer training is to teach Corps members HOW to teach what they know. Tulsa pulled in TFA teachers because they have been proven to have successful outcomes for students. These people are dedicated to making an impact with underserved student populations. As for having your student loans repaid, your comments are misleading. TFA is affiliated with Americorps; if you teach with TFA for TWO years, Americorps will forgive up to (approx.) $8000-10000. For most people coming from Ivy League schools or even top State universities, that is only a fraction of their education costs. Do your research before you run off on a rant.
Who majors in education? Another load of anti-teacher bull****. You major in a subject area and take additional courses in education.
Outcome successes like Michelle Rhee is who I suppose you're talking about. Turns out she lied/falsified her test results.
North Beach Person, In many states, you DO major in education if you plan on teaching elementary aged children. My daughter, in fact, was an education major and had Sociology as a secondary major but was certified in History. She did not major in history.
Subject certification does not require one to major in a subject area to be certified in it in some states. The last place my daughter taught, a charter school in Harlem, had a few TFA employees and my daughter said that while they were on the whole not very good in the beginning, they did improve (the ones that didn't quit) and they were all taking classes about education while working. She felt they actually got much more help and support then she did.
North Beach Person, In many states, you DO major in education if you plan on teaching elementary aged children. My daughter, in fact, was an education major and had Sociology as a secondary major but was certified in History. She did not major in history.
Subject certification does not require one to major in a subject area to be certified in it in some states. The last place my daughter taught, a charter school in Harlem, had a few TFA employees and my daughter said that while they were on the whole not very good in the beginning, they did improve (the ones that didn't quit) and they were all taking classes about education while working. She felt they actually got much more help and support then she did.
You and I are about the same age so maybe undergrad education requirements have changed since the um, er 70s when I went to college. I guess my point was that ed credits were a small part of a teaching degree when I got mine, at least for Secondary. I did have to take a boatload of classes in each Social Studies discipline plus even more in the concentration.
My reaction was to the TFA part, and we also have had a few. The one that stayed the longest lasted a semester. She just stopped coming in. Since we're a middle class school that makes or exceeds AYP yearly I don't know how we even got them. Their main opinion was how much they were doing to help the downtrodden. It got old quickly. One in Math didn't know what a meter stick is. That was an interesting meeting to sit in on.
Most of the TFA recruits are from top universities-- Harvard, Yale, Duke, etc. And although it says that the minimum GPA for a TFA Teacher is 2.5, anyone who makes it through the rigorous interview process generally has a much higher GPA. TFA chooses the best applicants to be a part of their program. And I guarantee you that someone who majored in math or one of the sciences knows WAY more about math and science then someone who majored in education. The summer training is to teach Corps members HOW to teach what they know. Tulsa pulled in TFA teachers because they have been proven to have successful outcomes for students. These people are dedicated to making an impact with underserved student populations. As for having your student loans repaid, your comments are misleading. TFA is affiliated with Americorps; if you teach with TFA for TWO years, Americorps will forgive up to (approx.) $8000-10000. For most people coming from Ivy League schools or even top State universities, that is only a fraction of their education costs. Do your research before you run off on a rant.
I don't question that a lot of TFA people come with impressive academic backgrounds. However, strong subject matter knowledge, enthusiasm and energy aren't enough. There's an old saying, you teach students first, subject matter second.
Typically, it takes a teacher 3-4 years in the classroom to really hit their stride as a teacher. A lot of stuff that makes you effective can't really be learned from ed classes and training - it's gotta be tried out. And some TFA folks pull through, some burn out quickly, just like any other new teacher. So it sounds counterproductive to dump more experienced teachers for rookies.
So there are merits with the TFA program but by no means is it a panacea or complete solution to improving classroom instruction or academic outcomes.
First, the program is a basic failure in its own aim of improving student achievement. The largest study to-date on the organization, a six-year Stanford study involving 4,400 teachers and 132,000 students, showed that students taught by Teach for America teachers performed worse on all six tests than students taught by certified teachers.
This study is curiously missing from the program’s website’s list of studies, but even those listed on its website are mixed and show mediocre improvement at best.
For instance, it cites a Mathematica Policy Research study that indicates how great the program does. But when you look at the study, it tested two things: reading and math. On reading, Teach for America teachers performed statistically the same as non-TFA teachers. On math, students of TFA teachers received scores of 30.44 — 2.43 points higher than non-TFA teachers whose students scored at 28.01.
FYI...Teach for America is one of the hardest programs to be hired into as a teacher. They take only the best and brightest who specialize in a specific area such as foreign language, math, science, etc. Those who are hired have spent summers working with underprivileged kids, done numerous service hours giving back to their communities, etc. Most of them went to top colleges on scholarships and have NO STUDENT LOANS.
They go through a rigorous "boot camp" summer training program where they gain 9hours of graduate credit, working from 7am to 11pm for several weeks. They work with elementary through 12th grade students who have to go to summer school because they have fallen behind in the system.
TFA was designed to go into the schools and bring the level of education up in areas where test scores were low and teachers don't want to stay. TFA has gone into some of the worst school districts in the country and helped bring them up higher than some of the best districts. TFA teachers are asked to go above and beyond and are closely monitored by not only the school district but by TFA itself.
FYI...Teach for America is one of the hardest programs to be hired into as a teacher. They take only the best and brightest who specialize in a specific area such as foreign language, math, science, etc. Those who are hired have spent summers working with underprivileged kids, done numerous service hours giving back to their communities, etc. Most of them went to top colleges on scholarships and have NO STUDENT LOANS.
They go through a rigorous "boot camp" summer training program where they gain 9hours of graduate credit, working from 7am to 11pm for several weeks. They work with elementary through 12th grade students who have to go to summer school because they have fallen behind in the system.
TFA was designed to go into the schools and bring the level of education up in areas where test scores were low and teachers don't want to stay. TFA has gone into some of the worst school districts in the country and helped bring them up higher than some of the best districts. TFA teachers are asked to go above and beyond and are closely monitored by not only the school district but by TFA itself.
TFA should definitely require more training; a summer is not enough. I would support at least 6 months of student teaching — I think less people would quit TFA if we were better prepared for our assignments.
Critics of TFA — including an increasing number of former TFA corps members — have long said that five weeks of summer training doesn’t even come close to preparing anyone for teaching any students, much less children with greater needs than others who don’t live in poverty. TFA has insisted that its five-week course is enough, though it wants corps members to earn a master’s degree in education while they are teaching. (Doesn’t that make you wonder why they don’t want corps members to earn a master’s degree before they get into a classroom?)
fyi...teach for america is one of the hardest programs to be hired into as a teacher. They take only the best and brightest who specialize in a specific area such as foreign language, math, science, etc. Those who are hired have spent summers working with underprivileged kids, done numerous service hours giving back to their communities, etc. Most of them went to top colleges on scholarships and have no student loans.
They go through a rigorous "boot camp" summer training program where they gain 9hours of graduate credit, working from 7am to 11pm for several weeks. They work with elementary through 12th grade students who have to go to summer school because they have fallen behind in the system.
Tfa was designed to go into the schools and bring the level of education up in areas where test scores were low and teachers don't want to stay. Tfa has gone into some of the worst school districts in the country and helped bring them up higher than some of the best districts. Tfa teachers are asked to go above and beyond and are closely monitored by not only the school district but by tfa itself.
Just a little info...
roflmao!!! TFA recruits are so well prepared that many do not even make it the two years. Most quit within the first year and few return to begin their second.
One cannot learn to be a TEACHER in 6 weeks. One might be qualified as a TEACHER ASSISTANT...
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