DOCUMENT RESUME ED 354 664 EC 301 840 TITLE Teach for

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 354 664

EC 301 840

TITLE

Teach for America. Information Bulletin #34.

INSTITUTION

National Association of State Directors of Special

Education, Washington, D.C.; National Clearinghouse

for Professions in Special Education, Reston, VA.

SPONS AGENCY

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services (ED), Washington, DC.

PUB DATE

Apr 90

CuNTRACT

G0087C3053-88/89

NOTE

22p.; Newspaper/magazine excerpts may not

copy

adequately.

PUB TYPE

Reports - Descriptive (141)

EDRS PRICE

MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS

Alternative Teacher Certification; Beginning

Teachers; *Change Strategies; Elementary Secondary

Education; Higher Education; Institutes (Training

Programs); *Preservice Teacher Education; Program

Development; Rural Education; Summer Programs;

*Teacher Placement; *Teacher Recruitment; *Teacher

Shortage; Teacher Supply and Demand; Urban Education;

Urban Teaching

IDENTIFIERS

*Teach for America

ABSTRACT

This document describes "Teach for America,"

program which recruits outstanding college students who may not

otherwise have considered teaching, provides them with

an intensive

training program, and places them for 2

years of teaching in

inner-city and rural school districts with persistent

teacher

shortages. The report addresses:

(1) the organization (history,

advisers and directors, and staff);

(2) the need (the shortage of

teachers in specific areas, the shortage of teachers

who are of

color, and an impending general teacher shortage);

(3) the rationale

(capitalizing on student idealism and indecision,

and countering the

major factors discouraging students from entering teaching);

(4)

program overview;

(5) recruitment and selection (recruitment

at 100

top colleges and universities, and selection criteria);

(6) training

(faculty, site, curriculum, and key ideas);

(7) placement (locations,

certification, salaries);

(8) support (within the school and

external); (9) evaluation (of both

program and participants); (10)

the context of the program (including broader efforts

to recruit

teachers and broader efforts to professionalize teaching

and

restructure schools);

(11) program contributors; and (12) reprints

mass media articles about the program. (pH)

**************************************::*-...**********************i.AA***

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that

can be made

from the original document.

***********************************************************************

The Nalonal Auovaion

Sun*

Rectors of Sosc2ai Education

THE NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE

FOR PROFESSIONS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

INFORMATION BULLETIN #34

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Educahonal Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER (ERIC)

-ar....s

document has been reproduced as

the person or organization

(

changes have been made to improve

reprdduchon duality

PO.ntS 01 tree or ocemons stated ,n thsclocu.

men! do not necessarily represent off

OE R. pos.1.0n or policy

TEACH FOR AMERICA

Ins Council for

E OP

Children

1/4\r)

National Clearinghouse for ProLssions in Special Education

Professions Information Center

The Council for Exceptional Children

1920 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091

703/264-9474

BEST COPY

AVAILABLE

Info. Bull. t34

Teach for America is a new program

designed to persuade college seniors

(non-

education majors) to sign up for a

minimum of two years of teaching

after

graduation.

In return, a deferment is

offered on repaying student loans

under

the provisions of the Higher

Education Act amendments of 1985.

Some 20 states have enacted

alternative licensing programs that

permit liberal

arts graduates and others

without education degrees to work as

teachers.

As a

result, in districts with teacher

shortages - the kinds of places

Teach for

America aims to reach - temporary

teaching certificates are routinely

provided.

This packet includes, among other

things, information regarding Teach

for

America's recruitment procedure, the

training of teachers, placement, support

given, and a listing of colleges

and universities which are

recruitment

targets.

For further inforTion, contact:

wendy Kopp

TEACH FOR AMERICA

P.O. Box 5114

New York, N.Y.

10185

212/974-2456

This document was prepared pursuant to Grant No.

G0087C3053-88189 with the U.S. Department of Education, Office

of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Agencies

undertaking projects under government sponsorship are

encouraged to express their Judgment freely In professional and

technical matters, Points of view and opinions do not,

therefore,

necessarily represent official Department of Education position or

policy.

The total amount of Federal funds appropriated for the project

$236,959. One hundred percent of the total cost of the

project Is

financed with Federal funds.

Publications of the National Clearinghouse

for Professions in Special

Education are in the public domain, and may

be reprinted.

Proper citation of

source(s) is appreciated.

Info. Bull, #34

We have

a vision of

an America

where millions

of the nation's

best

minds compete

to enter the

profession of

teaching and the

field

of education.

Our Immediate

Objectives

To recruit a

group of outstanding individuals

who may not

have otherwise considered

teaching

To meet the needs

of inner-city and rural

school districts

wh';h have persistent

teacher shortages,

especially of

people of color, bilingual

and elementary

teachers, and

secondary teachers of math,

science, and foreign

languages

To train, place, and

support the corps members

in such a

way that their two years have

a positive impact on the

children they teach

and on their own

commitment to

America's educational

system

Our Goals

To revolutionize the

way Americans view teaching,

so that

they see it as a challenging

profession demanding

the

nation's best minds

To create a

corps of individuals who,

whether they remain

in education

or move on to business

or government or law,

will spend their lives

working to improve

the educational

system

To make a significant

contribution to teacher

recruitment,

training, and support

Info. Bull. t34

The

Organization

History

Last year, a student

at Princeton

University proposed in

her senior thesis the creation

of an

organization that would use

the Corps model

active recruitment, a short

time commitment, a

selective and centralized

application process, an

intensive training institute,

and a placement and

support mechanism

to attract

individuals who would

not otherwise consider

teaching. Initial funding

from a number of

corporations made the

creation of TEACH

FOR AMERICA possible.

Today, a network of

Campus Representatives

at 100 colleges

and universities is

working to

build a broad base

of student support

for TEACH FOR

AMERICA. And a team of

recent graduates

from a number of

colleges and universities

has come together

to raise funds, recruit

corps members,

construct a summer

training Institute, and

build a placement

and support mechanism

that will enable

uncertified individuals to

teach in areas of

teacher shortage.

Board of Advisers

The Board of Advisers,

comprised of prominent

business, government,

and education

leaders, provides valuable

experience and guidance.

Joseph Alibrandi -

Chairman & CEO, Whittaker

Corporation

john Carter - President

& CEO, The Equitable

David T. Kearns -

Chairman & CEO. Xerox

Corporation

James A. Kelly -

President, National Board

for Professional Teaching

Standards

Robert ID. Kennedy -

Chairman. President, &

CEO, Union Carbide

Corporation

Harold W. McGraw.

Jr - Chairman Emeritus,

McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Frank Newman -

President. Education

Commission of the States

Thomas Pan= -

Superintendent, San Diego

School District

Vincent E. Reed -

Vice President. Washington

Post Company

Vincent A. Sarni - Chairman

& CEO, PPG Industries

EaticalLactuyanz - President,

Catalyst

George J. Sella - Chairman

& CEO, American

Cyanamid Corporation

William E. Simon -

Chairman, William E. Simon

& Sons

James Thompson -

Governor of the State of

Illinois

Robert E. Wvcoft -

President & COO, ARCO

Board of Directors

The Board is a group

of individuals chosen

for their experience

in education, teaching,

recruiting, promoting

service among college

students, and starting

non-profits.

Matt Bardin - teacher,

New York City; graduated

from Princeton in 1987

and entered teaching

through a non-

traditional route similar to

that TEACH FOR

AMERICA proposes.

Rick Belding - executive

director, Independent

Educational Services; founder

of Recruiting New

Teachers.

Jim Clark - executive

director and founder,

ACCESS: Networking in the

Public Interest.

Jennifer Eolett - one of the

founders of City-Year, an

urban Peace Corps in

Boston.

Richard Graham -

professor, George Washington

University; first director of the

federal teacher corps.

Wendy K000

founder, TEACH FOR

AMERICA.

Andxjjipman - vice president,

Amroc Investments.

Wayne Meise( executive

director, Bonner Foundation;

founded Campus Outreach

Opportunity League.

Susan Otterbourq -

educational consultant;

former teacher and principal;

Coordinator, National Symposia on

Partnerships in Education.

Laura Pim program

officer, Gould Foundation;

involved in founding the

College for Human Services

and in

many Community

Schools projects.

Leslie Talbot -

educational consultant;

formerly with National Urban

League.

Staff

A group of recent

college graduates is

working to create TEACH

FOR AMERICA.

Bruce Baker

Skidmore '89; published writer

and musician; recipient

of is:bright Scholarship.

Richard jiagh - Harvard

'89; worked on

business-education projects for the

Committee for Economic

Development and helped create

and run CHANCE, a

project to provide Boston

students with tutors.

Lisa Bornstein - Harvard

'89; founded and headed a

student organization which

promoted the discussion of

psychological inquiry; taught

junior high school students

in summer program at

Wellesley College.

BEST COPY MI MI

Info. Bull. 034

Sonia Brooking

Brown '89, Phi Beta Kappa; tutored and substitute taught in public schools.

Jose Calera

Williams '89; founder and coordinator of Latin American Organization; advised and tutored

high school and college students.

jarafitagagkagLa, - Harvard '89; tutored adult reading and writing and elementary ESL; research

experience in public policy, specific work in the increasing political power of minority groups.

joelle-Jude Fontaine

Berkeley '87; experience advising and counseling Berkeley students.

Michael Gilligan Columbia '86; served in the Peace Corps as a rural infrastructure development agent;

coached crew.

Paul Haaert Stanford '87; taught math in Malawi, Africa, in the Peace Corps; organized physical

education/nutrition program for elementary school children in economically depressed area.

Ian Huschle Harvard '88; taught one year at the American School of Tangier ; launched a private venture in

foreign trade; board of directors of Phillips Brooks House, a social work corporation of over 1000 volunteers.

Matt Irvine

Columbia '89; tutored and taught inner-city students in San Francisco and New York.

Guilaine dean- Pier e

Williams '89; co-founder & associate editor of Williams Journal of African-American

Studies.

AlliJernow

Harvard '89; taught English to students and professors at Nanjing University; provided

tutoring, job advocacy, and health care at the largest homeless shelter in Boston.

Wendy K000

Princeton '89; ran a student corporation with a staff of 60 and a budget of $1.5 million.

Wendy Lewis

Duke '88; developed customized promotional campaigns for internation,' corporation;

tutored mentally handicapped students in English and mathematics.

Daniel Oscar

Princeton '88; just returned from a year of teaching in China; tutored, taught and advised at

the college and secondary levels.

aonnet Retmart

Princeton '89; tutored elementary school children; researched area of urban cultures.

Susan Short Stanford '86; just returned from teaching in Lesotho with the Peace Corps.

Doug Shullman Williams '89; founded, financed & managed 100-employee branch of national corporation;

ski instructor, soccer coach, and backpacking leader.

Edith Silver

Columbia '89; co-directed a camp for children from a woman's shelter; worked in fundraising

and strategic planning for non-profit groups.

Kimberly Smith. Columbia '89; experience evaluating business-education partnerships.

Whitney Tilsort

Harvard '89; owned a 40-person painting company and served on the Board of Directors of

the $2 million Harvard Student Agencies.

Info. Bull. #34

The Need

The problems in the educational system are well publicized. We have heard that

700,000

students drop out each year; that students in the United

States consistently score below those of

almost all other industrialized nations in math and science; that more

than 75 percent of 17-year-olds

are unable to write an adequate analytic essay;

and that the United States has an illiteracy rate of 30

percent while those of our competitors in Europe and

Asia are around 10 percent.

TEACH FOR AMERICA's premise is that the future of the schools depends in large part on

two factors: (1) the creativity, intellect, and drive of those who

staff the schools; and (2) the extent to

which the nation's leaders have experience in and a commitment to the schools.

TEACH FOR AMERICA, which addresses both of those demands, is thus a critical element

the movement to reform and restructure our public schools. It will also

address some immediate,

concrete needs:

The Shortage of Teachers in Inner-City and Rural Areas

In some areas, teacher shortages persist even in times of general teacher surplus and even as

the teaching profession in general increases in appeal, for they are functions of

factors that may never

go away

dangerous working conditions, poor location, lack of community and parental support, lack

of resources, and so on.

The Shortage of Teachers in Math. Science, and Foreign Languages

Even large, suburban schools have problems attracting teachers in science, math, bilingual

education, foreign languages, and special education. For example, 72 percent of high school

principals reported in 1986 a difficulty in hiring fully qualified applicants for teaching vacancies in

physics; 62 percent, computer science; 57 percent, mathematics; and 52 percent, foreign languages.

The Shortage of T

C tQUIgralal

Even as an increasing percentage of elementary and secondary school students are African-

American and Latino, the teaching profdssion attracts a small and decreasing percentage of black and

hispanic teachers. While people of color will make up 33 percent of the school-age population by the

year 2000, it is projected that they will make up only 5 percent of

this nation's teaching force. This

shortage deprives students of color of role models and deprives all children of the opportunity to learn

from individuals who reflect the ethnic diversity of this nation.

An Impending Teacher Shortage of Unprecedented Proportions

Virtually all accounts project that the demand for teachers will increase dramatically in the

coming years. The National Center for Education Statistics predicts that total yearly demand for new

teachers will increase 35 percent by 1995. It projects that schools will have to hire 1.5 million new

teachers between 1988 and 1997.

The increase in demand results primarily from a simultaneous increase in school enrollments

and teacher retirements. As children of the baby boom parents enter the school system, enrollment

will increase by 4 million, or nine percent, by 1997. And the National Education Association reports

that because the teacher population has greyed significantly over the past two decades, as many as

900,000 of the nation's 2.3 million teachers will retire by the turn of the century.

Info. Bull. 134

The Rationale

TEACH FOR AMERICA counters the five major factors that currently discourage the most

outstanding graduates, in particular people of color and those who have majored in math and science,

from entering the teaching profession. And it capitalizes on two campus sentiments

idealism and

indecision

to attract talented individuals.

Factors that

discourage

outstanding

non-aducatIon

relators from

adhering taachIng

Low

teacher

pay

Poor image

of teaching

Low

awareness of

teaching

opportunities

Complicated

system of entry

into profession

Weafth of other

UMW

opportunities

What TEACH

FOR AMERICA

does

Builds a

sans. of

service

Maximizes

publicity &

selectivity

Recruits

actively

Centralizes

recruitment,

training, &

placement

Requires

2-year initial

commitment

BEST COPY

AVAILABLE

--5

(71

campus

mood

Idealism

HUNDREDS

of groat

recrultalll!

Info. Bull. #34

Program Overview

The following display capsulizes the TEACH FOR AMERICA operations.

Programmatic details

are discussed further in the following pages.

Recruitment

& Selection

Support &

Ongoing

Training

Campus Reps

Training

Institute

Advisory

Committee

Areas of

teacher

shortage

Local Offices:

Orientatio

Mentoring

Resources

Social Events

Symposia

Support

groups

Copy

Facilities

Alumni

Network

Urban

Rural

Candidates

apply:

Written

application,

Interview,

Teaching

session

Coordinator

of Faculty

National

Faculty

The Institute:

Education that

is multicultural

Student

teaching

Teaching

strategies

Classroom

management

Curriculum

development

Final Selection

Info. Bull. 034

Recruitment & Selection

Recruitment Targets

TEACH FOR AMERICA is recruiting actively at 100 of the nation's top colleges and

universities, selected according

a variety of measures including size, selectivity, and minority

enrollment.

Tuskegee University

Claremont-McKenna

Harvey Mudd College

Pomona College

Stanford University

University of CA - Berkeley

University of CA - L.A.

University of CA - Santa Cruz

University of CA - San Diego

University of Southern California

University of Colorado - Boulder

Connecticut College

Trinity College

Wesleyan University

Yale University

Georgetown University

Howard University

University of Delaware

University of Florida

University of Miami

Emory University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Morehouse College

Spelman College

University of Iowa

Grinnell

Northwestern University

University of Chicago

University of Illinois - Urbana

University of Notre-Dame

Tulane University

Amherst College

Boston University

Brandeis University

Harvard University

Holy Cross

University of Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of rechnology

Mount Holyoke College

Smith College

Tufts University

Wellesley College

Williams College

Worcester Polytechnic

Johns Hopkins University

University of Maryland

Bates College

Colby College

Bowdoin College

Middlebury College

141

University of Michigan

Carleton College

Macalester

University of Minnesota

Washington University-St. Louis

Davidson College

Duke University

University of North Carolina

Wake Forest University

Dartmouth College

Princeton University

Rutgers University

City College

Colgate University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Hamilton College

New York University

Rennselaer Polytechnic Inst.

SUNY - Albany

SUNY - Binghamton

SUNY - Buffalo

Syracuse University

Vassar College

Case Western University

Miami University

Oberlin College

Reed College

Bryn Mawr College

Bucknell University

Carnegie Mellon University

Franklin & Marshall

Haverford College

Lafayette

Lehigh

Swarthmore College

Penn State

University of Pennsylvania

Brown University

Fisk University

Vanderbilt University

Rice University

Trinity University

University of Texas - Austin

Texas A & M

College of William & Mary

University of Virginia

Washington & Lee

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Info. Bull. #34

Campus Representatives

Seeking to build a broad base of student support for TEACH FOR AMERICA, we identified

100 student leaders ("Campus Representatives") who launched

TEACH FOR AMERICA on each of

the 100 colleges and universities.

The Campus Representatives came together December 1-3 at Princeton

University and left

ready to create TEACH FOR AMERICA chapters involving campus leaders

from organizations

representing different ethnic, academic, and extra-curricular interests. These chapters are planning

and executing informational sessions and speeches, distribution of information and fliers, advertising,

and the like.

On February 10, 1990, the Campus Representatives pulled off a simultaneous "TEACH FOR

AMERICA Day" when each campus hosted the Class of 2001 (fifth-graders) from a local public school

for a day of educational events. This symbolic event focused campus attention on teaching and

education and TEACH FOR AMERICA.

Selection Process

A three-stage selection process enables us to select a corps of the most outstanding,

committed graduating seniors.

A team of twelve trained recruiters travel from campus to campus to

meet and evaluate all candidates on the basis of a written application, a standard-format interview, and

a practice teaching session.

TEACH FOR AMERICA recruiters do not aim for a certain quantity of corps members but base

their decisions solely on the strength of each individual candidate. The recruiters evaluate each

candidate according to a number of criteria:

persistence

commitment

integrity

enthusiasm

adaptability, creativity, and flexibility

multicultural sensitivity

independence and assertiveness

ability to work within an organization

conceptual ab.lity and intellect

oral communication skills

written communication skills

ability to operate without the approval of students

possession of self-evaluative skills

capacity for organization and preparation

The recruiters must determine the answer to the question, "Do you absolutely want this

person to be a Charter Member of TEACH FOR AMERICA?' and then rate the candidate on the

following scale: Exceptional, Outstanding, Great, Good Fair, Poor, Terrible. TEACH FOR AMERICA

accepts only those candidates who recruiters "absolutely" want in the corps and who rate as either

exceptional, outstanding, or great.

From the "accepted" pool, TEACH FOR AMERICA places those

candidates who demonstrate the coursework and qualifications which districts specify as desirable.

Commitment

Corps members will make an initial commitment of two years. They will agree to attend the

expense-paid summer training Institute and to assume a teaching position in the assigned location, at

the salary which a district would traditionally pay an individual with similar qualifications.

Info. Bull. 134

Training

This intensive 15-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week

Institute will serve only as the first important

step for helping each corps member

become a craftsperson in the teaching profession. Each

member will leave the institute knowing that they are

off to a terrific start toward becoming a dynamic

teacher and, equally as important, they

will leave knowing that they still have much to learn.

Institute Advisory Committee

The Institute Advisory Committee met this past fall to draft a design

and curriculum for the

Institute.

It included a number of thought leaders in teacher training, including

Myrna Cooper of the

United Federation of Teachers in New York; Carl

Grant, a specialist in multicultural education and a

professor at the University of Wisconsin; Pearl Kane, a

professor at Columbia Teachers College; Vito

Perrone, director of Harvard's teacher education program;

Marilyn Rauth of the American Federation

of Teachers; and Jim Steffensen, who was active in the design and

evaluation of the teacher corps

Corps Member Training Institutes.

Coordinator of Curriculum & Instruction

The coordinator is Carl Grant, chairman of the African-American

Studies Department and

professor of education at the University of Wisconsin. He was active

in the design and executive of

the Corps Member Training Institutes of the federal teacher corps.

The Faculty

A national faculty of approximately fifty carefully selected outstanding

educators (elementary.

secondary, and university) will be responsible for instruction and

professional development at the

Institute. Each faculty member will have proven, in-depth knowledge and

experience in a subject area

or grade-level area. The faculty will include expert

teachers of science, math, reading, language, and

learning and motivational theory.

It will also include expert teachers of multicultural education and

home-school relations. All of the faculty members will have experiences in working

in urban or rural

educational settings. Some of the faculty members will be from locations at

which the corps members

will be placed after the Institute.

The Site

The Institute will take place on the University of Southern California campus

in Los Angeles

from June 17 through August 11. The rich cultural environment and a year-round

school system

which provides extensive opportunities for student teaching make Los

Angeles an ideal location for

the Institute.

All faculty and corps members will rer.ide in one dormitory during the eight

weeks.

Institute Design and Structure

Corps members will be grouped into five houses. Each house will have

approximately fifty

elementary and fifty secondary corps members. Ten faculty members will be the on

call" instructional

staff for each house.

Corps members will spend almost haft of their time at the Institute student teaching

under the

guidance of Institute faculty. The remainder of their time will be spent

in discussion groups and

classes.

Curriculum

The Institute will impart strategies in teaching, classroom management, and

curriculum

development and will seek also to acquaint corps members with current issues in education as

well as

the social context of the schools. Three overarching themes

professionalism, reflection, and

mutticutturaiism

will run throughout the instruction. Following is a working grid of the curriculum

design.

COMPONENTS

OF THE INSTITUTE

IDEAS TO EMPHASIZE THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM

Professionalism

Reflection

Multiculturalism

o Source of responsibility

o Collegiality

o Changing roles of

teachers

o Complexityof teaching

o Problem solving

o Faculty models strategies

o Experiences for the

participants

o Context and approach for

use in their own

classroom and scii.-.ol

I. Teacher as manager

o Classroom and group

management

o Discipline

o Developmental psych

II. Teacher as leader

of active learning

o Brief overview of

educational philosophies

o Teaching strategies

o Learning theory/how

students learn

o The exceptional child

III. Teacher as

curriculum leader

o Curriculum and planning

o Content area

o Assessment

o Innovation

o Utilizing resources

o Different approaches for

reading & writing across

the curriculum

IV. Teacher In social

context

o Education that is

multicultural

o Reality of social issues

impacting the classroom

o Specific cultures of the

district

V. Teacher within

organizations

o School as social

organization

o District structures and

roles

o Community/parent

involvement

3 BEST

COPY AVAILABLE

Info. Bull. #34

Placement

Locations

TEACH FOR AMERICA will cluster corps members in major urban centers and rural areas

across the United States.

Districts applied to be chosen as one of the placement sites. In choosing

among them, the organization has two major goals: (1) to mitigate teacher shortages: and (2) to

provide corps members with an experience that will encourage them to remain active in the field of

education.

At this point it is likely that TEACH FOR AMERICA will place in the following areas:

New York City

Chicago

Los Angeles

New Orleans & Baton Rouge

rural North Carolina

rural Georgia

Certification

While the Institute will result in some credits toward teacher certification, it will not be sufficient

to enable corps members to meet standard certification requirements. Therefore, TEACH FOR

AMERICA members will teach under 'waivers" or alternative certification programs that are now

available to school districts which experience shortages.

Salaries

School districts will pay the corps members as they would any full teacher with similar

experience and qualifications.

Salaries range between $17,000 and $29,000.

Info. Bull. 034

Support

Within the School

Each corps member will have the internal support

of the school principal and of a mentor

teacher, both of whom will be available to

provide information and advice.

Eixternal

Local TEACH FOR AMERICA offices will

coordinate a support system that will involve:

an orientation weekend/week

an orientation for mentors

ongoing training through ties with local universities

a link with a retired teachers network

small support groups

communication with TEACH FOR AMERICA schools

community links

a housing/banking/health/living hotline

local newsletter

clearinghouse of educational resources

copy facilities

social events

personal check-ins with TEACH FOR AMERICA teachers

Follow-Up

TEACH FOR AMERICA corps groups will remain powerful and

influential groups even after

their two years in service. Whether the corps

members continue in teaching or go on to business or

government or law or medicine, they will have avenues

and opportunities through which to help

improve the American educational system. A strong alumni network,

with reunions and conferences

and newsletters, will ensure that the TEACH

FOR AMERICA spirit never dies.

Info. Bull. #34

Evaluation

TEACH FOR AMERICA 's first evaluation will begin with the training Institute and will then

follow the corps members through their two-year experience.

Its purposes are twofold:

(1) To provide an internal guide for program development; and

(2) To say something to the outside world about the desirability of the TEACH FOR

AMERICA recruitment, training, and support models.

i,nong other things, the evaluation will demonstrate

how TEACH FOR AMERICA corps members compare with the average new

teacher population in terms of grades, interests, perspective, NTE scores, etc.

how the TEACH FOR AMERICA Institute affected the corps members'

perspective and knowledge base, and what the corps members thought of it

how the TEACH FOR AMERICA support system affected the corps members'

experience, and what the corps members thought of it

how the TEACH FOR AMERICA corps members' overall experience compares

with that of the average new traditionally certified teacher

how principals and mentor teachers evaluate the effectiveness of TEACH FOR

AMERICA corps members, using traditionally certified new teachers as a

reference point

TEACH FOR AMERICA In

Context

So much is happening today in the areas of teacher recruitment,

education reform and

teacher professionalization that there exists a legitimate

fear that new efforts will duplicate or, worse,

run counter to existing movements.

Yet TEACH FOR AMERICA is a unique effort to improve the

quality and quantity of the teaching force.

It will complement current efforts to attract teachers and to

professionalize teaching and restructure the educational system.

Efforts to Recruit Teachers

States, localities, the federal government, and the private sector have taken a

number of

steps to attract more, better teachers.

Over thirty states have recently mandated minimum salaries, and others have

instituted

across-the-board pay raises. By 1988, 35 had offered scholarships or

forgivable loans to students

agreeing to teach after graduation. Over twenty states have

implemented some form of alternative

certification, which enables liberal arts graduates and mid-career

professionals to enter teaching

through a shortened version of pedagogical training. Yet

these efforts do not appear to have the

capacity to eliminate problems in teacher quality and quantity.

Few believe it is possible to raise

salaries to a level that would make teaching competitive with other

professions. Studies of scholarship

and loan forgiveness programs reveal that they do little to

recruit those who would not have entered

the teaching profession anyway. And analysts of alternate

certification programs conclude that they

do not demonstrate the capacity to solve persistent

geographic shortages.

Recently, Senator Edward Kennedy has proposed the creation of a "teacher corps."

Through his bill,

local states and school districts would receive more money in order to provide

recruitment and incentives for college students who_commit to five years in teaching.

If the Kennedy

bill does pass, it will attract a different pool of individuals than

TEACH FOR AMERICA will. TEACH

FOR AMERICA targets a unique niche of individuals

those with the most other career opportunities

and seeks to attract them by creating a powerful sense of service, selectivity, and status.

It will attract

graduates who realize that they have an unlimited number of opportunities and are unwilling to

commit

to five years in any occupation.

The private sector is also making a number of efforts to help attract teachers. The National

Executive Service Corps retrains retired executives to teach, and a number of companies are

also

sponsoring mid-career people to enter teaching. TEACH FOR AMERICA

is similar to these efforts,

but

will recruit from a different pool and will place them nationally.

Another significant private-sector effort, Recruiting New Teachers, uses public service

announcements and an 800 number to focus positive attention on teaching and to

provide interested

individuals information about entering teaching.

It also provides a list of respondents to institutions

which hope to recruit teachers. The increased national interest in teaching with RNT has helped to

generate will help TEACH FOR AMERICA attract a select group of individuals. Eventually,

TEACH

FOR AMERICA will probably tap into RNTs pool of respondents, offering them a centralized

application, training, and placement mechanism.

Efforts to Professionalize Teaching and Restructure Schools

Business, education, and government leaders are resolved that the time has come for real

change in the educational system. They call for school restructuring, for teacher

professionalization.

TEACH FOR AMERICA will help them in their efforts.

First, it will further efforts toward professionalization by attracting bright individuals to teaching.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, meant to be a backbone of the

effort to

professionalize teaching, seeks to recogr.ize and certify 'expert" teachers. The Board will require that

the teachers it certifies demonstrate mastery of a certain bodyof knowledge, but

it will not require an

education major. It relies on teaching's ability to attract some of the brightest, most motivated

individuals in our society.

Second, TEACH FOR AMERICA will build a corps of leaders with the knowledge and

commitment to argue for school improvement and teacher professionalization. Even if they leave

teaching to pursue opportunities in business or government or law, they will be strong advocates

for

change in the educational system.

1, 7

Info. Bull. 134

Contributors

TEACH FOR AMERICA will be funded by a number of corporations and foundations. We are

grateful to the many institutions and individuals who have supported the start-up phase of TEACH

FOR AMERICA. They include:

SPONSORS

($100,000)

Chrysler Corporation

Merck Foundation

Mobil Foundation

Starr Foundation

SUPPORTERS

American Cyanamid Corporation

Apple Computer Inc.

Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

Johnson Bogart

Valerie Charles Diker

Valerie T. Diker

The Equitable

General Atlantic Partners

Hertz Corporation

Hill & Knowlton

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

John McGillicuddy

Morgan Stanley & Company

PPG Industries

The Prudential

Jay Sherrerd

Mrs. Norman Tishman

Union Carbide Corporation

Xerox Corporation

Young & Rubicam

/AP. HORIZONS

Drafting the best and brightest

EDUCATION

An elite new teacher corps reveals public spirit on campus

ell-tailored recruiters represent-

ing investment banks and pro-

fessional schools are common-

place on the nation's elite college

campuses. Students recruiting their

classmates to teach in the nation's belea-

guered public schools are not.

Yet that is what has been happening

at 100 leading colleges and universities

since early December under an ambi-

tious new project called Teach for

America. Astonishingly, this country's

best and brightest, who tradi-

tionally have shunned teaching

as a low-pay, low-status occupa-

tion. are responding. Indeed,

within a week of slipping an in-

formational flier under the doors

of 1,500 university dorm rooms

last month, Teach for America's

Yale representative received 170

phone inquiries, reflecting a lev-

of interest in

teaching un-

imaginable on top campuses a

decade ago.

Teach for America's founder

is a

1989 Princeton graduate

named Wendy Kopp. At a na-

tional conference of students in

1.?88, Kopp heard undergradu-

ates with distinguished academic

records express enthusiasm for

teaching. That inspired her no-

tion of a "teacher corps" that

would allow graduates headed

for other careers to sidestep

state licensing laws that typical-

ly require teachers to earn edu-

cation degrees. The 22-year-old

public-policy major drew up a

blueprint for the organization in her se-

nior thesis last spring and established

Teach for America after graduation.

Coming stiortfaL Kopp's initiative is

nothing if not timely. A severe shortage

of talented teachers is threatening to

undercut current attempts to improve

the performance of the public schools.

Reformers continue to bemoan the low

caliber of many education-school gradu-

ates. And between now and 1997, rising

enrollments combined with a wave of

teacher retirements are expected to pro-

duce a need for 1.5 million new teach-

ersmany more than the education

schools are turning out.

Such statistics have sparked an in-

tense interest in liberal-arts majors as a

new source of teaching talent. About 20

states have created "alternative certifi-

cation" routes into the nation's class-

rooms for would-be teachers lacking

education degrees. The Bush adminis-

tration has asked Congress to allocate

525 million for grants supporting the

state programs. So far, such programs

have attracted mainly scientists, lawyers

and other professionals who want to

make midcareer shifts into teaching.

Teach for America is aiming to recruit

seniors straight off the campuses of the

nation's most prestigious colleges and

universities.

Teach for America has a predecessor

in the federal Teacher Corps, established

tions. Kopp and the organization's re-

cruiters attribute the initial surge of en-

thusiasm on campus to student awareness

of the crisis in education. as well as to a

resurgence of public spirit among stu-

dents generally. "Students are talking

about teaching, science majors. premeds.

the budding political types, the works

the enthusiasm is very broad." says the

Yale rep. senior Jonathan Snyder. A 1989

survey of Columbia and Barnard seniors

seems to substantiate that observation. Of

the respondents, 60 percent ex-

pressed a willingness to teach in

public schools for periods of two

or three years.

High-risk

thinking.

Kopp's

progress since submitting her

thesis nine months ago has been

extraordinary. She has raised

nearly 5500,000 from founda-

tions and major corporations

such as Mobil. Merck. Xerox

and Union Carbide, and won

many converts to her cause in

the process.

"It's the kind of

radical high-risk, high-reward

thinking that's needed to begin

to turn around the crisis in pub-

lic education." says Robin Ho-

gen. vice president of the Merck

Company Foundation, who calls

Kopp "disarmingly effective" at

opening doors in high places.

Merck has donated S100.000 io

Teach for America.

Working out of donated Man-

hattan office space with a staff of

six recent college graduates.

Kopp has recruited an advisory

board that includes nationally promi-

nent educators and several corporate ti-

tans. An equally distinguished panel is

developing a summer training institute

that all Teach for America recruits will

attend prior to entering the classroom.

Negotiations to place Teach for

America recruits are nearly complete

with several urban school systems. in-

cluding Los Angeles and Chicago. and

with rural school systems in North Car-

olina and Mississippi. Later in the

month, Kopp and her staff will travel to

the campuses to select applicants who. in

addition to undergoing traditional inter-

views, will be required to perform a 15-

minute "teaching demonstration." Kopp

is anticipating 7,500 applicant,. Teach

for America's first 500 recruits are

scheduled to be named in April .ind to

be in classrooms by September

t.C.E 14C4:1.04,4,2 404 se.4.44

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Wendy Kopp. Tapping into resurgent campus idealism

in 1965 as part of President Lyndon

Johnson's War on Poverty, which fol-

lowed a similar strategy in

its early

years, placing about 1,000 recruits annu-

ally in disadvantaged rural and urban

communities. But Kopp uses as her

model the Peace Corps, an independent

agency with a high profile and an aura of

selectivity and public spirit. "Part of the

reason people apply to the Peace Corps

is because they know it's selective," ob-

serves Kopp. "In order to attract people

with the most career opportunities, we

have to compete with graduate schools,

investment banking and management

consulting, which offer prestige and a

high profile."

Teach for America's target schools

range from the Ivy League to leading

liberal-arts colleges and top public uni-

versities. The organization has made a

priority of recruiting minority teachers

and is recruiting at leading black institu-

- 1 6

! 3

by Thomas Toch

U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT Jar

;go

About Education

Fred M. Hechinger

Building tomorrow's public schools with the

brightest college graduates of today.

Info. Bull. 134

THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDUCATION

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1989

Early this year Wendy Kopp. then a

student at Princeton, wrote her sen-

ior thesis on a plan to entice some of

the best college graduates into teach-

ing in public schools.

Her idea was a network of campus

representatives who would persuade

seniors at elite colleges to sign up for

a minimum of two years of teaching

after graduation. In return, those who

Joined would get a deferment on

repaying students loans under the

provisions of the Higher Education

Act amendments of 1985. The goal.

Miss Kopp says, was to recruit recent

graduates, especially minority-group

members, in math and science.

She first thought about this at a

1988 meeting of business and student

leaders to discuss ways to improve

the schools. "The idea Just popped

into my mind." she says. "I realized

that top students might go into teach-

ing if we could find a way to recruit

them. it seeled so simple. One prob-

lem with the education reform move-

ment is that people don't talk to col-

lege students.

"So many of my peers were com-

pletely undecided about what to do

after college," said Miss Kopp. who

had attended public schools in Dallas.

"They seemed ready to be recruited

by something like what 1 had in

mind."

And so, Teach for America,was

born. One young woman's idea has

blossomed into a private, not-for-

profit program that will send its first

. group of college graduates to teach in

inner-city classrooms in the fall of

1990. Tentatively selected are schools

in Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago,

New York City, the Rio Grande Val-

ley in Texas and several cities in igew

Jersey.

Some 20 states have enacted alter-

native licensing programs that per-

mit liberal arts graduates and others

without education degrees to work as

teachers. In districts with teacher

snortages, the kinds of places 1Leac4

for America aims to reach, tempo-

rary teacning certificates are rou- .

finely provided.

An eight-week summer training in-

stitute will introduce the new gradu-

ates to pedagogy, problems of cul-

tural differences and teaching. A

training advisory committee will

create the curriculum for the- insti-

tute and help select the faculty, which

will include teachers and administra-

tors from the cities already chosen.

rte committee includes a teaching

specialist from Harvard, a member

of the American Federation of Teach-

ers. a New York City school principal

and a staff member from Teachers

College at Columbia University,

among others.

Once the teacher is placed in a

classroom, at the regular first-year

salary, the school must provide an ex-

perienced mentor.

Would some of the graduates be-

come professional teachers/ "We

hope that a good many will stay in

teaching." said Miss Kopp. the organ-

ization's staff director and a member

of its board. "But even if they leave

teaching after a few years and go into

law or business or medicine, they will

be powerful spokespersons for public

education and school reform."

Last weekend, 160 students from

100 campuses met in Princeton to get

ready to act as recruiters.

Miss Kopp's advisory board in-

cludes chief executives from corpora-

tions like Xerox and Union Carbide

and educational leaders like the

school superintendent of San Diego

and the president of the National

Board for Professional Teaching

Standards.

She says she has received enthusi-

astic reactions from many educators,

including Albert Shanker, president

of the American Federation of Teach-

ers, and Frank Newman, president of

the Education Commission of the

States.

Several corporations and founda-

tions have made contributions, and

$300,000 has been raised so far. Miss

Kopp's budget calls for $1.7 million.

including $1.3 fcr financing up to 500

recruits. Morgan Stanley is providing

office space in the McGraw Hill

Building in New York. Harold Mc-

Graw, the book company's chairman

emeritus, Is among the advisors.

Teach for America is not the only

effort to reacn out for high-quality

young teachers. The Peace Corps Fel-

lows Program, for example, has

joined with New York City's Board of

Education and Columbia University

to send returned Peace Corps Volun-

teers to schools in Harlem and the

South Bronx.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund

plans to recruit minority-group mem-

bers to teach in inner-city schools.

And Congress is considering legisla-

tion to rebuild a federally financed

Teacher Corps.

What distinguishes Teach for

America is that It represents stu-

MMTeaking to students. Miss

Kopp, a member of the Class of '89. is

optimistic. She points to a survey of

Barnard's and Columbia's class of

1989: 60 percent of 818 seniors who re-

sponded said they would consider

teaching for two or three years.

This does not guarantee a rush of

volunteers. Nor Is It certain that even

the brightest college graduates will

necessarily be good teachers. But the

plan fits Into current efforts to reach

out to new and different candidates

for tomorrow's schools.

-'17-

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

JANUARY 17, 1990 EDUCATION

WEEK 7

Elite-College Alumni Hatch Plan To Recruit Teachers

By Ann Bradley

plained. "it's so hard to get into

Oteaching compared to getting into

investment banking or manage-

ment consulting.'

Network of Recruiters

Mach For America's 100 campus

recruitera, all volunteer college stu-

dents, met last month at Princeton

University to organise their cam-

paign. Through informational ses-

sions, posters, and letters, the re-

A group of recent graduates of

prestigious private universities

plans to tap into college students*

idealism and capitalise on their ca-

reer indecision by recruiting =di-

ctate, &yin 100 college campuses for

teachtng jobs.

As many as 500 prospective teach-

ers will receive intensive training

this summer at the University of

Southern California before being

hired by school districts expenenc-

mg teacher shortage*,

The new progr.. -n. called Teach

For America. is the brainchild of

Wendy Kopp,

a 1989 graduate of

Princeton University.

Ms., Kopp modeled Teach For

America after the federal Teacher

Corps program, and wrote her sen-

ior thesis at the Woodrow Wilson

School of Public and Internauonal

Affairs on the topic.

hesitate to say it, because it

sounds so lofty and superficial, but I

really believe education ia the key to

everything,' Ms. Kopp said- "There

is an enormous amount of idealism

en collro. ramr.uses."

Ma. Kopp 3. --.nowledged that the

program hopes to benefit from stu-

dents' uncertainty about their hi-

ttres ha mquirement that partici-

ams agree (a teach for two years is

designed to be attractive to graduates

consadering several career options.

Many bright students are inter-

ested in teaching, she added, but

they either do not know bow to go

about doing so, or are put off by con -

Fusing certification requirements.

"By the time you get to be a senior,

and you're looking for a job,' she ex-

11 at the

Iniversity of Southern

California. They will serve as btu-

dentteachera in several year-round

schoula m Los Angeles.

Teach For Amenc., plans to sign

contracts with a total of eight urban

and rural school districts to hire

corps members. The districts must

agree to pau the new teachers with

mentor teachers and to place them

in schools with at least one other

corps member.

"Wes so hard to get into teaching cumpared

to getting into investment banking or

management consulting."

cruiters will spread the word about

the program.

In addition, they plan to sponsor a

"Bach For America Day' on Feb. 10

in which local Sib graders will be in-

vited to each of the 100 campuses for

a day of educational events.

So tar, Ms. Kopp said, the re-

sponse to the program has been pui-

tive. For example, the Yale Univer-

sity campus recruiter received 200

responses within five days after

mailing

letter to studeraidescrib-

ing Teach For America.

Corps members' will be screened

on the basis of applications that in-

clude essays and interviews with re-

crullers.

Those selected for the program

will undergo an intensive training

program from June 17 through Aug.

Wendy Kopp

The program's oryammrs acknowl-

edge that teachers trained under the

program will not have enough teach-

ex ed LIC.Jt1 on courses to meet arrufica-

bon requirements in most states.

Instead, most will teach for the first

year under "waivers' granted to di,-

trucs

soartages of

math, saenoe. foreopi-language, and

elementary-school teachers. And

some may work in states with provi-

sions for 'alternate routai to cerufi-

aion that allow teachers to become

certified alter beguuung their jobs.

Although corps members will be

required to teach for just two years,

Ms. Kopp said she expects many will

want to continue in the profession.

Support Network Planned

A key component of the program

is the extensive support that will be

made available to corps members. In

addition to the mentor teachers, lo-

ordinate support groups, symposia,

social events, and a newsletter.

among other activities.

'lb date, noels For America has

raised $530.000 from corporations

and foundations, including Ameri-

can Cyanamid Corporation, Apple

Computer Inc., and the Mary Reyn-

olds Babcock Foundation.

Ms. Kopp said she intends to raise

$3 million to sustain the program.

'1 think in part (potential donors]

might be somewhat taken aback by

the fact that I have just graduated

and dunk that Fin going to create

this program,' she said. "I'm prob-

ably in

very good position to do

that, because I know where college

students are coming from.'

The program's current staff mem-

bers, who are assisted by a board of

directors and board of advisers, in-

clude recent graduates of Brown.

Stanford, Princeton, Columbia. and

Harvard universities.

James A. Kelly, president of the

National Board for Professional

Standards ant: -n adviser

to Tench For America, said he be-

lieves Ms. Kopp has Identified an

Important piece of the puzde of how

to improve teaching.'

"Her niche is to recruit into teach-

ing

higher proportion of graduates

from outstanding undergraduate

Itheratarts programs,' he noted.

Tin in favor of that goal.'

More information on the program

14 available by writing-. Teach For

America, P O. Box 5114, New York

City, N.Y. 10185.

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