Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

Setting the Record Straight on Teach For America

September 04, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

In light of Joel Colbert’s letter to the editor in your Aug. 1, 2007, issue, I would like to communicate the facts about Teach For America.

To begin with, the most reliable gold-standard study of the impact of Teach For America corps members on the students they teach (published by Mathematica Policy Research in 2004) found that these students made more progress in both reading and math than would typically be expected in a single year. In math, the impact of a Teach For America teacher was the equivalent of an additional month of math instruction.

Like the Mathematica study, two additional rigorous studies of beginning teachers in New York City (one by Thomas J. Kane, Jonah E. Rockoff, and Douglas O. Staiger, published in 2006, and the second published in 2005 by Donald J. Boyd, Pamela L. Grossman, Hamilton Lankford, Susanna Loeb, and James H. Wyckoff) have found that Teach For America corps members perform similarly to traditionally certified beginning teachers in reading and outperform other new teachers in math. The studies Professor Colbert alludes to in his letter do not meet the same rigorous methodological standards as these studies.

Furthermore, more than 60 percent of Teach For America teachers have continued to work full time in education more than 10 years after they started teaching. This group is composed approximately one-third of classroom teachers, and also includes hundreds of principals and many other dedicated supporters of the nation’s public school students.

This past year, nearly 3,000 of the most talented future leaders in this country committed themselves to teach in our nation’s most underresourced urban and rural communities, with significant support from Teach For America through an intensive summer training program and rigorous ongoing assistance and professional development.

Given the clear evidence of their commitment to education over time and their effectiveness both short- and long-term, we should all applaud the motivations of these teachers and the impact they have on the lives of children growing up in low-income communities.

Matt Kramer

President and Chief Program Officer

Teach For America

New York, N.Y.

A version of this article appeared in the September 05, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in Schools
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by Panorama Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Spark Minds, Reignite Students & Teachers: STEM’s Role in Supporting Presence and Engagement
Is your district struggling with chronic absenteeism? Discover how STEM can reignite students' and teachers' passion for learning.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Recruitment & Retention Webinar EdRecruiter 2025 Survey Results: The Outlook for Recruitment and Retention
See exclusive findings from EdWeek’s nationwide survey of K-12 job seekers and district HR professionals on recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction. 

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Quiz Education Week News Quiz: Dec. 5, 2024
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools," event in the East Room of the White House, on July 7, 2020, in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's Schools," event in the East Room of the White House, on July 7, 2020, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Education Quiz Education Week News Quiz: Nov. 26, 2024
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Small Business Administration administrator Linda McMahon attends a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 16, 2018, in Washington.
Small Business Administration administrator Linda McMahon attends a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Aug. 16, 2018, in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Education Briefly Stated: October 23, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: October 2, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read