Teach for America does not currently qualify for our highest ratings. Teach For America | GiveWell

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Teach For America

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Teach for America does not currently qualify for our highest ratings.

More information:

• What is our evaluation process?

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Previous GiveWell reviews of TFA:

• July 2008 review

Table of Contents

• What do they do?
• Does it work?
  • Evidence of impact
  • Ongoing monitoring
• What do you get for your dollar?
• Room for more funding
• Sources

What do they do?

Teach For America (TFA) recruits recent college graduates,1 facilitates their training,2 and places them in schools across the country, where they teach while completing coursework to earn full teaching certification.3 TFA aims to recruit high-performing and ambitious students who have graduated from top universities and "who are highly likely to be leaders in all sectors of society in the course of their careers."4 TFA seeks to hire students with strong academic records, regardless of prior teaching experience.5

Does it work?

Activists: Chicago school ‘reforms’ violate minority students’ rights - Chicago Sun-Times

Activists: Chicago school ‘reforms’ violate minority students’ rights - Chicago Sun-Times:

Parents, students from other cities join Chicagoans in claiming school ‘reforms’ violate minority students’ rights

BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com June 21, 2012 1:08PM

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Jitu Brown, of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, calls Thursday for a meeting with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. | Rich Hein~Sun-Times

ARTICLE EXTRAS

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Updated: June 22, 2012 2:24AM

 

Parents and students from seven cities are joining those in Chicago in filing civil rights complaints against school closings, phase-outs and other “rampantly horrible” reform upheavals they contend have disproportionately victimized minority communities, school activists said Thursday.

The group called for a “national moratorium’’ on the kind of school reform shakeups that they say began in Chicago under former Schools CEO Paul Vallas; ramped up under his successor, Arne Duncan, and have spread nationwide during Duncan’s tenure as U.S. Education Secretary.

“This is the birthplace of all this mess,” said Jitu Brown of Chicago’s Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization. “What’s happening around this country is insane.”

Brown said that residents of New York City; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Atlanta; Wichita, Kan.; and Eureka, Miss., were filing complaints with the U.S. 

Summer Games | Special Olympics Northern California

Summer Games | Special Olympics Northern California:

Summer Games

Summer Games is the culminating competition for our Spring Sports season:  Aquatics, Bocce, Tennis and Track & Field.  Summer Games is one of the largest Special Olympics Northern California sporting events.

 OPENING CEREMONIES

The weekend's festivities begin with Opening Ceremonies on Friday evening at beautiful Aggie Stadium on the UC Davis campus.   Opening Ceremonies is an evening of excitement for our athletes, and the coaches, families and volunteers who support Special Olympics.

Emcees for Opening Ceremonies will be Emmy Award winning CBS Channel 5 newscaster and reporter Juliette Goodrich and Special Olympics Gold Medal Athlete, Lindsay Mibach. 

                                           
             

Don’t miss a chance to cheer and be inspired when Opening Ceremonies begins with the traditional parade of athletes. Athletes and their coaches will be welcomed into Aggie Stadium by the "Wall of Honor" consisting of Law Enforcement personnel from all over Northern California who have raised funds and awareness for Special Olympics throughout the year.

With entertainment being provided by Diamonds in the Rough, a rock and roll band consisting of disabled and non disabled band members, it is only fitting that our Opening Ceremonies theme be Rock and Roll.  Our delegations and spectators are invited to get into the rock and roll spirit and be ready for some great entertainment. 

Opening Ceremonies will conclude with the dramatic arrival of the Flame of Hope into Aggie Stadium escorted by a police motorcade and law enforcement personnel. The Law Enforcement personnel will be joined by several Special Olympics athletes and together they will light the Special Olympics caldron to officially open the Games.

THE COMPETITION

After weeks of training and competing at a regional competition, athletes will  experience the thrill of competing against other athletes from all over Northern California in state-of-the-art collegiate athletic facilities on the UC Davis campus.  The action packed competition takes place on Saturday and Sunday.   Below are the competition schedules (subject to change) for each of the sports.

Aquatics Competition Schedule and Venue Information

Bocce Competition Schedule and Venue Information

Tennis Competition Schedule and Venue Information

Track & Field Competition Schedule and Venue Information

PHOTOS

Photos of Summer Games will be available 2 hours after Opening Ceremonies on Friday evening.  Additional photos will be posted over the weekend.

2012 Summer Games Photos

NYC Public School Parents: My letter to Bloomberg re parents' right to know performance evaluations of top Tweed officials

NYC Public School Parents: My letter to Bloomberg re parents' right to know performance evaluations of top Tweed officials:

My letter to Bloomberg re parents' right to know performance evaluations of top Tweed officials

by Leonie Haimson

The Legislature passed the Governor’s bill on disclosure of teacher evaluations yesterday.  No matter that the evaluations, based primarily on test scores, are unfair, unreliable, erratic and have up to a 85 point error rate.  

No matter that the legislation will allow parents to call or email to find out the rating of their child’s teacher.  No matter that the ratings of all teachers at public schools will be published, by school, grade and subject, making it all-too-easy for parents to gossip and trade information about which teacher got which (totally unreliable) score.   

 No matter that for some reason, in our electeds’ continuing , and unaccountable deference to charter schools, they will remain free of any damaging and morale-busting disclosures.  

Still Bloomberg went ballistic because not every teacher’s name will be published in the newspaper, and says he will have every school call every single parent with children in grades 4-

Bloomberg: City will aggressively foist teacher evals onto parents | GothamSchools

Bloomberg: City will aggressively foist teacher evals onto parents | GothamSchools:

Bloomberg: City will aggressively foist teacher evals onto parents

by Philissa Cramer

The city will exploit every letter of a new law that sets out exactly who can see the results of teachers’ annual evaluations, Mayor Bloomberg announced today.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after legislators in Albany signed off on a compromise bill meant to shield the results of new teacher evaluations from public scrutiny. The legislation, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced, blocks the results of new teacher evaluations from being subject to Freedom of Information Law requests, preventing news organizations from obtaining them. But it created a process for parents to request the evaluation results of their children’s current teachers.
Bloomberg opposed the bill, arguing that the public has a right to know how individual teachers perform and that the request process was so onerous that few parents would be able to use it.
So during his weekly radio address this morning, Bloomberg announced that city schools will bring the process 

Hechinger Report | How an Australian company won the top spot in teacher training in New York City

Hechinger Report | How an Australian company won the top spot in teacher training in New York City:

How an Australian company won the top spot in teacher training in New York City

by Sarah Garland

Olivia Atanasovska, a consultant for AUSSIE, gives tips to teachers at P.S. 279 in the Bronx on how to design a curriculum. (Photo by Sarah Garland)

A decade ago, Australia nearly topped the charts when it came to teaching children to read, though it lagged behind countries like Canada and Finland. These days, Australia has fallen further in the international ranks. But in New York City, many schools still look to Australians for the secret to academic success—and pay them millions of taxpayer dollars each year to help train teachers, records show.
One company, Australian United States Services in Education—or AUSSIE—has dominated the New York City 

Assisted Learning | Connected Principals

Assisted Learning | Connected Principals:

Assisted Learning

by sblankenship

Recently, Tom Whitby wrote a provocative article called Hypocrisy in the Profession of Education. I ask that you take the time and read and share this article. In fact, if you are short on time, stop reading my thoughts and click here.

“The biggest hypocrisy of the Education Profession is that the educators too often have become poor learners unwilling to leave their comfort zones to improve their learning. They are not “bad teachers” they are however victims of bad practices of a complacent education system. To be better educators, we first need to be better learners.” – Tom Whitby

I believe that educators do the best they know how. In other words, they can only do what they know. How can 

Teacher Email Addresses, sent and unsent, reveal secrets of state - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Emails, sent and unsent, reveal secrets of state - The Santa Fe New Mexican:

Emails, sent and unsent, reveal secrets of state

The New Mexican

The state Public Education Department is having an email problem. 

Reporter Steve Terrell detailed how Public Education Department employees helped a political operative gather a list of teacher email addresses -- first all state teachers, then culling the general list to only those from nonunion districts. Both lists, after the verbal request, were sent out post-haste. Just a routine public-records request, say the parties involved. Those would be Republican operative Jay McCleskey, the man behind the curtain, 
so to speak. He's so powerful in his assistance to 
Gov. Susana Martinez that his nickname is the "fifth floor." He has been paid more than $100,000 by her political action committee for his advice. Also involved, education department spokesman Larry Behrens, the person who answered McCleskey's request, directing employees to gather teachers' email addresses -- the kind of list-making state agencies seldom do for reporters or members of the public. 

We don't know the purpose of the lists, and a request for teachers' home addresses was turned down. However, it's a good bet that the teacher information has to do with the Martinez administration's attempt to redo the teacher-evaluation system. What failed legislatively, Martinez and her still unconfirmed Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera, are attempting to do through administrative 

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the 40th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program | U.S. Department of Education

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the 40th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program | U.S. Department of Education:

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the 40th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program

JUNE 22, 2012

Contact:  

 Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov 

"Forty years ago tomorrow, Senator Claiborne Pell stood with members of Congress and President Nixon as he signed a historic bill to provide low-income students with federal financial aid to pursue postsecondary education. As Senator Pell, the chief sponsor of the program that bears his name, often said: 'Any student with the talent, desire, and drive should be able to pursue higher education.' Those words are as true now as they were in 1972.

"Over the past 40 years, the Pell Grant program has supported more than 60 million students. In March 2010, President Obama made a $40 billion investment in the Pell Grant program, raising the maximum award to enable a full-time, low-income student to receive $5,635 a year for his or her undergraduate education for the 2012-13 academic year. The rising demand from students has resulted in a 50 percent increase the number of students eligible for Pell Grants.

"Pell Grants are an economic lifeline for millions of college students, but they are only one way to make sure postsecondary education is affordable. With the cost of college rising faster than family incomes, postsecondary institutions need to do their part to constrain college costs. States need to step up their investments in higher education, even in these difficult fiscal times. And Congress needs to act to sustain support for Pell Grants and stop interest rates on new student loans from doubling on July 1.

"As President Obama says, 'No one should go broke because they chose to go to college.' For 40 years, Pell Grants have been essential to helping millions of students pay for college. It's our collective responsibility to maintain our commitment to Pell Grants and other efforts to make postsecondary accessible and affordable to all."

Your Summer PD: Successful Schools — Whole Child Education

Your Summer PD: Successful Schools — Whole Child Education:

Your Summer PD: Successful Schools

by Klea Scharberg

ASCD conducted its second Whole Child Virtual Conference in May. This free conference showcases schools, authors, and research about implementing a whole child approach for a worldwide audience. View and share archived session recordings, presenter handouts, and related resources atwww.ascd.org/wcvirtualconference.
Gain further insight into what successful school sites are doing and simple steps your school can take to help implement, sustain, and build a culture of meeting the needs of the whole child through these presentations:

• Vision in Action: Quest Early College High School
• The ABCs of Educating the Whole Child
• The Byrne Creek Story
• One District's Plan to Educate the Whole Child
• Healthy School Farm and Garden: LeConte Elementary School

Additionally, several Healthy School Community sites presentations from the 2011 virtual conference are archived and available for viewing, including:

• Coordinating School Health Program: A Sustained Approach
• Team Batesville: A Community Engagement Activity
• Together We Can (Walking Program)
• Breaking Expectations: Changing with the Healthy School Report Card
• Parents: A Vital Part of the School Community

Seattle Schools Community Forum: LEV is Among the Worst

Seattle Schools Community Forum: LEV is Among the Worst:

LEV is Among the Worst

by Charlie Mas

Here is a link to a story on the LEV blog with the headline "Washington among the worst when it comes to Black male graduation rates".

The story - written by the League of Education Voters - says:

"The Schott Foundation has released individual report cards revealing the graduation rates of Black male students, and Washington is among the worst performers."

Later in the story, however, the LEV admits:

"The national graduation average for Black male students in the 2007-2008 school year is 47 percent, which technically means that Washington is slightly above average."

How A Taxi Ride Changed My Life (Ed Bridges) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How A Taxi Ride Changed My Life (Ed Bridges) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

How A Taxi Ride Changed My Life (Ed Bridges)

by larrycuban

Ed Bridges is Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University. His focus on educational administration, leadership, principal preparation, and problem-based learning has earned him the respect of colleagues and students for decades. We have been colleagues and friends for over 30 years. He gave this commencement address June 17, 2012 at the Stanford University School of Education.
It is an honor and a privilege to be your commencement speaker. After accepting the invitation to be your speaker, I consulted my oldest and one of my dearest friends. Since he had served as the president of four Canadian universities and the Chairman of the Board for the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, I knew that he had listened to many commencement speeches and delivered a few as well. Over a Guinness, I said, “George, what advice could you give me?” He paused, leaned over, and spoke softly and slowly. Here is what he said, “A commencement speaker is like a body at an Irish wake; the organizers need you for the party and don’t expect you to say much.”
I intend to follow my friend’s advice and talk briefly about how my life was changed following a taxi cab ride I took more than 40 years ago. However, before recounting this story, let me preface my remarks with a few things that 

Stand for Children gets some more butt whuppin’ in Chicago. « Fred Klonsky

Stand for Children gets some more butt whuppin’ in Chicago. « Fred Klonsky:

Stand for Children gets some more butt whuppin’ in Chicago.

by Fred Klonsky

Stand for Children Illinois went online and cried buckets of tears over the fact that Chicagoans went toSignon.org to urge Change.org to drop the union busting petition appearing on a self-described progressive website.
Change.org at first refused to drop Stand for Children as a client.
But the petition initiated by CTU member and history teacher Jennifer Johnson soon went Chicago-viral. And when it hit 4,000 signatures, Change.org cried uncle and removed Stand for Children from their site.
But read the comments on the Stand for Children Illinois site.
Chicagoans are still kicking’ butt.

Joe  said on June 20, 2012 8:18 PM

It isn’t censorship. They are a private company and have the right to work with anybody they want 

Diane Ravitch: Muskegon Heights, Highland Park charter takeovers signal 'death watch' for Michigan public schools | MLive.com

Diane Ravitch: Muskegon Heights, Highland Park charter takeovers signal 'death watch' for Michigan public schools | MLive.com:

Diane Ravitch: Muskegon Heights, Highland Park charter takeovers signal 'death watch' for Michigan public schools

Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 4:15 PM     Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 4:17 PM

 By Dave Murray | dmurray@mlive.com 
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Diane Ravitch addressed a Michigan Education Association in 2011, saying the United States is “in an age national stupidity,” with a corporate education reform agenda bent on “demonizing teachers so it can fire them.”

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Are Michigan’s public schools on “death watch?”

Diane Ravitch thinks so.

Ravitch penned a blog this week pointing to the decisions by emergency financial managers in Muskegon Heights and Highland Park to turn schools over the charter school operators until the districts pay off millions of dollars of debt.

Ravitch is an influential historian, author and former U.S. assistant secretary of education during the first Bush Administration who now is a vocal opponent of school reform efforts, which she brands “corporate reforms.”

Ravitch called the state’s emergency manager law “draconian,” and that under it, “democracy comes to an end. The emergency manager has a free hand to do as he or she wishes. Decisions are made by diktat, with no need to consult with the community whose children are involved. So much for choice.

“As context, bear in mind that the governor cut the budget for public schools while giving big tax breaks to corporations. Under its present 

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TEACHER? By Jeff Foxworthy

DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!: HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TEACHER? By Jeff Foxworthy:

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TEACHER? By Jeff Foxworthy

by Lisa M

 I walked into the copy room and this was sitting on a table with the words: "This is a must READ :)". I agree, and I think it is also a "Must SHARE!" I Googled it and realized it has been around for years, but I got a laugh out of most of them!:)

1. You get a secret thrill out of laminating things.
2. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words, "It's Ms./Mr. ____________ and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people who  accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under 25 minutes.
6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day, lunch and planning period.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or 

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

Hey Bridgeport; Vallas Has Your Credit Card and He’s Going Wild (Part II of II)

by jonpelto

Governor Malloy and Mayor Finch work out a deal to take over the Bridgeport Schools and appoint a new school board.  Despite the action being deemed illegal, the new appointed board fires the old superintendent, costing taxpayers $220,000, since they had to buy out that guy’s contract.

Paul Vallas, education reformer extraordinaire makes his debut here in Connecticut, along with his growing entourage of associates, assistant, aides and consultants.

To balance this year’s Bridgeport school budget, Vallas cuts a variety of programs and 

Which states screw the largest share of low income children? Another look at funding fairness « School Finance 101

Which states screw the largest share of low income children? Another look at funding fairness « School Finance 101:

Which states screw the largest share of low income children? Another look at funding fairness

by schoolfinance101

Here’s a little Friday afternoon fun with the updated Census Fiscal Survey data through 2009-2010. I’ve written recently about the national school funding fairness report card, which I work on with colleagues from the Education Law Center. The report card can be found here:
http://www.schoolfundingfairness.org/
I also recently wrote a blog post about America’s Most Screwed City School Districts. It was clear to some readers that the most screwed city school districts happen to be concentrated in certain states like Illinois and Pennsylvania, and also in Connecticut which is often perceived as a reasonably well funded and fairer state (than the other two).
Par for the course, as soon as we release the School Funding Fairness report card using data from 06-07 to 08-09 (most recent available at the time we put it together), the Census Bureau releases their 2009-10 district level 

We Never Run Out of Truly Bad Ideas « Diane Ravitch's blog

We Never Run Out of Truly Bad Ideas « Diane Ravitch's blog:

We Never Run Out of Truly Bad Ideas

by dianerav

Some days ago, I posted a blog about the decision by the Oklahoma Department of Education to post on its website the names and personal information of students who got a waiver and didn’t take the state tests. This was widely understood as a purposeful effort to humiliate the students.
Now from a reader comes something that is either equally mean or meaner. I report, you decide:
Today I read that two schools near me have been prohibited by the California legislature from issuing ID cards and notebooks color-coded TO REFLECT THE TEST SCORES OF THE STUDENTS. Yes!! The students with the top scores had black ID cards and notebooks. Then came gold for “proficient” and then white for low-performing. These last were made to stand in a separate cafeteria line!!!!!!  It’s so difficult to believe that this sort of nonsense is happening in the United States of America.
This sounded too absurd and mean-spirited to be true, and I had to check before posting. It’s true. Read it here.
Diane