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<p>Agreed, there are much, much easier ways to polish a resume. I think applicants who apply solely for what they can get out of it, would not make it through the screening process. I also don’t think the traits TFA is looking for can be learned or faked. It’s certainly not the right track for everyone looking to teach or “save the world”, but can be a great avenue for the right kid.</p>
<p>One of my son’s friends has been in her first year in TFA this year and I have followed her blog with interest. It has been an inexpressibly transforming experience; certainly difficult but also intensely rewarding. For a kid who wants to step out of college and into some “real world” experience it seems like an ideal opportunity to learn, contribute, and sort out who you are now that you are no longer a college student and ready to join the adult workforce. It is certainly a powerful way to “give back” if you have been privileged to have a good education and there are complex and powerful lessons about how systems work (and don’t work). Whether one stays in education (in the classroom or otherwise) I think the TFA experience could be an invaluable and memorable “graduate education” in yourself and the lifeskills to manage work and social/political organizations.</p>
<p>We’ve talked about TFA on this site before. Here’s my question - if these recent grads are so fired up about teaching now, why didn’t they double major in education and their subject matter in college? There are thousands of recent college grads that majored in education, that want to be teachers, willing to work anywhere and they are competing for jobs with the TFA people. </p>
<p>My understanding (correct me if I’m wrong) is that the TFA candidates are not paid out of the schools budget so it would be smarter for a school to take a TFA person instead of another grad with an ed degree.</p>
<p>I remember someone saying that ed majors can apply for TFA positions, but it just doesn’t seem fair that a TFA candidate actually has a leg up on someone that has always wanted to be a teacher.</p>
<p>Linda, I think the genius of what Wendy Kopp (founder of TFA) has done is to make TFA a desirable post-grad destination not only for the work itself, but for what it looks like on a resume. Last year 11 percent of Yale seniors and 9 percent of Harvard seniors applied to TFA. The kind of kids who go to Harvard and Yale are not the kind of kids who are going to risk their future opportunities by doing something that’s going to derail their resume and future options. TFA has become so well-respected by grad schools and top businesses, that these kids feel assured that they can do whatever they want after TFA if they don’t stay in teaching - and the evidence shows that they can. So TFA gets the applicants, they get TFA on their resume. The only problem with that is that TFA has to weed carefully through applicants to avoid the ones who just want to polish their resume – because those people just won’t make it for two years. That’s why the application process is so grueling. But for future employers and grad programs – they know that if they are getting a TFA alum, they are getting someone who was thoroughly vetted by one of the toughest organizations to get hired by and they know that, if they lasted two years, they can probably handle any professional challenge. Is it a rude awakening? No doubt for many or most. My own DD had worked in inner-city schools while in college and went to an urban public high school so there was less of a rude awakening re the students but what was a rude shock was the lack of support among the non-TFA teachers at her school, in her department. I think that has abated now that they’ve seen that she isn’t ruining the school’s scores, etc. There is so much pressure on schools now to pass scores with NCLB, etc. that teachers worry about new teachers bringing down their scores. And I think there was a general distrust, almost jealousy, of a young novice coming in with the TFA mentality. But I imagine that varies from school to school. The network is not the school – it is TFA itself. They go to grad school together for their credential/Masters Degree, they train together and they tend to live together or make friends with other TFA corps members. As for the bulletproof vest – that was another shock for my DD – the adults who felt free to tell her after she had accepted that she should carry a gun to school. Most were supportive but some really advised her about the gun.</p>
<p>"but it just doesn’t seem fair that a TFA candidate actually has a leg up on someone that has always wanted to be a teacher. "</p>
<p>I think a big part of the problem is that up until the economy tanked, teaching grads did not want to be teachers in these inner city, problematic schools. I personally know of a recent grad who is teaching in a Chicago Public school but would bolt in a heartbeat for a better, safer job in the suburbs. </p>
<p>"that was another shock for my DD – the adults who felt free to tell her after she had accepted that she should carry a gun to school. Most were supportive but some really advised her about the gun. "</p>
<p>Where does she teach? Some locations are more dangerous than others. One of my friends sons choose to live in Philly where he was teaching, and their apartment was robbed within one month of living there.</p>
<p>Well, in Philly we had a really tragic situation last summer, where a recent college grad who had just moved here from Minnesota to teach (via one of the non-TFA programs that is somewhat similar) was killed in a random mugging a week after he got here. It was late at night, but in a fairly active neighborhood – no one would have said it was absolutely “safe”, but not someplace at all where you would expect someone to get killed (unless it was a mob hit). It was big news – every year, there are dozens and dozens of young, idealistic teachers starting here, and usually none of them gets killed. The killer was caught within a few days, but terribly sad all the same.</p>
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In my d’s case, she’s fired up about a 2-year service program that will allow her to make a personal contribution to solving an urgent national problem. It will also allow her to decide whether classroom teaching is the right profession for her. She didn’t know at age 18 that she wanted to pursue education as a major; she knew she wanted to study classical languages and political science. </p>
<p>There are several alternative certification programs in place to encourage grads and professionals who haven’t majored in education to consider teaching as a career. I don’t see my d’s work with TFA as undercutting recent education graduates in any way. Ed majors are welcome to apply for TFA, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t have at least as strong a chance as applicants with any other major, provided that their other qualifications (GPA, commitment to volunteer activities, demonstrated problem-solving ability, etc.) are similar. They’d have the possible advantage of already having demonstrated a commitment to education.</p>
<p>As to who pays TFA corps member salaries (per the TFA website):
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<p>I agree that one value of TFA is that it supports a new group of students in entry into the teaching field. I’m guessing that a good portion of TFA students may not themselves have been in a public system prior to college or have been encouraged to consider teaching. While some will go back to previously planned careers in other professions, they will bring a new perspective to that work. Others will have discovered a career option that had not been on the table before but could be a positive new direction, to which they will bring the perspective of their “alternative” route to the career (eg: through classics or hard science or poli sci.) Many prestigious prep school teachers did not do traditional education majors and took the alternative route to teaching through independent schools. </p>
<p>I see TFA as a useful bridge for many college students who are still defining their career path as the move into adultood and some of whom will make a powerful contribution, along with their peers in traditional education programs, to how we will (hopefully) be upgrading public education in this country.</p>
<p>Kathiep, a lot of TFA folks don’t realize they want to do TFA until their senior year of college – too late to be changing majors, etc. even if they wanted to. And a lot of them are not committing to a lifetime of teaching but, by the same token, a lot of soldiers are not committed to a lifetime in the military, but they contribute a great deal. My DD did consider the teaching program at her school, in addition to her major. But she had a second major that was seriously interested in, to the point of considering pursuing a Ph.D., so she did that. I have a question though regarding majoring in education. I am under the impression that to be a secondary school teacher, you need to have majored in the subject you are teaching while in college – is a teaching major useful for secondary school teaching or only elementary school teaching? </p>
<p>As someone else said, all salary and benefits come from the school district. That is why TFA finds itself suddenly faced with a huge crisis in California where a large number of TFA corps members just received their pink slips along with thousands of other teachers across the state because of a severe budget crisis. Los Angeles is hit particularly hard. While the pink slips are only a warning that teachers may find themselves laid off at the end of the year, the TFA teachers, along with all first and second year teachers who are not considered permanent, are the most vulnerable – particularly since many of the TFA folks will not have their credential until May. TFA hasn’t faced something on this level before and will need to scramble to get their first year teachers placed for a second year – fortunately there are a lot of charter schools here as well as surrounding districts. A lot remains to be seen – the effect of the federal stimulus package on the budget crisis, the offer of early retirement to experienced teachers, how the Union will respond, etc. but it is a problem and that’s because TFA teachers are employed by the district (or charter school) that they work for. And, yes, it’s unsettling for these TFA members to have to deal with the uncertainty along with everything else. Even if they are placed in another school, that will essentially be like being a first-year teacher again in terms of acclimating to a new environment, etc.</p>
<p>Also, TFA recruits from many school that do not offer an education major.</p>
<p>Like it or not, one of the principal ideas behind TFA, from its formation though today, is that the traditional channels for becoming a teacher are not satisfactory in attracting and training teachers. That includes majoring in education in a college that offers it, of course. The organization would have no reason to exist if the “thousands of recent college grads that majored in education, that want to be teachers, willing to work anywhere [who] are competing for jobs with the TFA people” were considered up to the task. It’s not an accident that there is tension between TFA and the educational establishment many places, although TFA has generally done a good job minimizing it in recent years.</p>
<p>It is interesting to know that TFA corps members get teaching credentials in California in the course of their service. I don’t think that happens here.</p>
<p>Good points, JHS. I think CA requires a teaching credential in public schools. Frankly, I’ve never completely understood the maze of requirements here. They need to pass the CSET and CBEST first and then be earning the credential. Then there is the option to get a Masters in Education which some choose to do. In CA, if you teach a third year, you get a “clear” credential which is good for your lifetime. It’s a motivation to stay for the third year to teach because if you’re willing to live in CA, you’ll be able to teach if you want to come back to it later.</p>
<p>Hi all–I glanced through the posts but thought I would share my D’s experience. She did 2 years of TFA in a middle school in the Bronx. Also did a Master’s program at the same time. Her hours were long–she got up at 5am and got home around 6 pm most days. I visited one day each year. I took postcards from Oregon and taught the kids to address them to themselves (most had no idea how to address an envelope or postcard) and then I wrote something to each one over the school year. I digress-- D was offered a position to stay but is now working at a publishing house and is considering a new career path in a health profession. She feels that TFA taught her many good things, that it is very hard and that it is now opening doors for her. I do believe there was recently a special on the News that said 13% are being accepted and that they are getting a lot more applicants. It really acts as gap years for college grads and some stay in the field. The stats I remember is that the TFA math teachers students have test score that are higher than regular teachers and that the language art teacher scores are the same as the regular teachers. I will say that the school felt safe enough but not a neighborhood to be in after dark. On Holloween they tell the teachers to leave the minute the bell rings (most stay for many hours to run clubs and help students). Also, of D’s friends abuot 75% quite within the first few months as they were overwhelmed so I do think finishing the 2 years shows fortitude.</p>
<p>D would also agree with post #22</p>
<p>NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” had an interview today with the author of “Relentless Pursuit”. Also, the book is now in paperback.</p>
<p>[NPR</a> Media Player](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=4&islist=true&id=5&d=03-17-2009]NPR”>http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=4&islist=true&id=5&d=03-17-2009)</p>
<p>I should have added that I have worked as a mentor teacher for TFA and have met some of the young people and have observed them in these schools. The veteran teachers,many of whom did major in education, completed student teaching for a year, and earned a teaching credential, regard them with surprising little interest and respect; they are not viewed as people who are career educators. One of the young women I trained was so disillusioned by the sixth week that she was more interested in going home; I cannot blame her. She had a degree from NYU and was committing to teaching reading on a 2nd grade level to 8th graders for two years.<br>
I do not mean to burst any one’s bubble here, by the way, but the schools are also quite unsafe and often in gang territory and neighborhoods.</p>
<p>No, TFA “teachers” do not save any money; they usually lack classroom management skills and the districts wind up assigning an aide to their classrooms to keep the peace. </p>
<p>I know, I know, your kids were the shining stars and required no intervention, but in my experience, even the middle school students could see that the TFA “teachers” were very, very inexperienced.</p>
<p>Which may be why “career” teachers don’t always view them with a great deal of respect! Most TFA teachers are well-meaning, but ill-prepared, and we have the same problem with many of the other alternatively certified teachers. Unfortunately. :(</p>
<p>hmmm…there seems to be some bitterness here and I do not know why. TFA is a program much as the Peace Corp. There is good and positive and then other areas that are lacking. Would the world be better off if such programs did not exist at all??? That said, now I will be personal, there really are some TFA teachers who manage to do just fine and even great. What exactly is the problem here??</p>
<p>Hey there folks… I’ll pitch in my thoughts, as the devoted girlfriend of a soon to be TFA teacher 
Of course, we are biased, I’ll start right there. But oregon, to respond to your comment about “bitterness”: Lots of people in education as well as outside of it don’t think TFA really makes a difference for the kids or communities, just for the corps members. It is for sure an excellent resume builder, to anyone who doubted that. My boyfriend is very committed to education and believes 100% in the mission of TFA - but surprise, surprise, he wants to eventually go into politics and work on education policy. So yes, there is bitterness because people are skeptical.</p>
<p>But here’s what I’ll offer that hasn’t already been said: What alternatives do you suggest for inner city and rural schools? These schools are understaffed and stretched thin and welcome bright-eyed young people trying to make a difference. While some criticisms are fair, they should be criticisms of education in America at large, not just TFA. The fact that TFA is needed, the fact that corps members unfortunately cannot make a difference oftentimes in their two or three year terms, the fact that working in these schools can be soul-crushing… these things say something about the inequity of our public education system, and TFA is a part of the movement for change for the better.</p>
<p>Linda, you say you were a teacher mentor for TFA. Your opinion of the organization and its corps members is clearly dismissive. Are you yourself teaching in “gang territory and neighborhoods” where you’d want your child to have a bullet-proof vest? Do you have one? Are you teaching there because you, too, at one time wanted to “go off to save the world”?
Yes, that is what TFA recruits do. There is no pretense otherwise. That’s what other teachers in disadvantaged areas do, too - no secret about that. The good ones, TFA and otherwise, are trying to fix this problem.</p>
<p>As to how much TFA recruits cost the system - most of them are teaching in areas where there is no money for classroom aides to keep the peace. I just don’t buy your point here. Are the aides reserved for the TFA recruits, and if so, why would any principals hire such expensive and ineffective staff members? It’s already been shown that TFA recruits are paid by the school systems themselves, not the organization. And principals in disadvantaged areas are looking for ways to make the most of their staff budgets. </p>
<p>I’m a fan of the teaching profession, but must point out that teachers who have been certified via the traditional route have not, in and of themselves, been able to cure the ills in disadvantaged schools. So why not try alternatives, when the traditional fails? What’s your better idea?</p>
<p>Yup, my kid is a “shining star,” as you rather meanly put it. You aren’t bursting any bubbles. She, and I, expect that she will spend many evenings crying, banging her head against the wall, and questioning why she chose to do this instead of taking advantage of other opportunities that her college record well qualifies her for. She, and I, also expect that this will be one of the defining experiences of her life. Not to burst your bubble.</p>