Teach for America is an organized and progressive educational initiative, which is comprised primarily of teachers and other educators who recently earned their college degrees. They focus on outside of the box thinking, and on a unified approach to solving problems which are common to classrooms across America today. The problems with which they are concerned are primarily complicated social issues, such as educational inequality based upon race and income level. Others are logistical, such as the lack of funding available to rural schools. Teach for America believes in confronting these issues through a unified approach, starting in schools in impoverished or otherwise disadvantaged areas, and working their way up.
So, how does the organization work, in terms of affecting change in disadvantaged schools?
Broadly Representative
In accordance with a mission to create a more diverse classroom experience across America, and to counteract common classroom difficulties, many of the incoming TFA teachers are themselves from a range of social and economic backgrounds. In 2016, for example, TFA added more than 3,400 professionals to their teaching corps. Nearly half of these were Pell Grant recipients, indicating need-based assistance in pursuit of their college degrees. More than one-third of the organization’s newly added professionals were the first people to attend college in their respective family histories. While a range of backgrounds, racial and ethnic profiles, and other areas of human diversity are represented, one thing that virtually all of these professionals have in common is that they work, full-time, in educational roles within low-income communities, most of them right out of college.
Learn from the Students
TFA’s affiliates all begin in the classroom, where they teach students in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of the country. In addition to imparting a quality education, which is held to a high standard by the organization, these professionals also listen to their students. They try to identify their problems, and figure out how they are being impacted the most by the lack of funding available to their school — or whatever the issue at hand is. After that, they try to implement solutions in the classroom, fixes which help individual students to excel while, if possible, simultaneously addressing the underlying problem. Successful strategies are shared with the organization, in the hopes of benefiting students elsewhere.
Multiple Paths to Success
Teachers who work with TFA tend to take one of two paths in applying what they’ve learned themselves. Some teachers remain in their role as teachers throughout their careers; they may stay in the same classroom, or they may move on to other schools, perhaps after imparting some of what they’ve learned to those they leave behind. Other teachers leave the classroom, and take on roles as educational administrators. These individuals work with school districts and in government educational departments, working hand-in-hand with TFA teachers to try and help spread viable solutions to common issues faced by students around the country.
A Range of Educational Initiatives
From African-American students, to students from the Pacific islands, to individuals with special learning needs, many large groups of students are at a disadvantage today before they ever set foot in a classroom. TFA incorporates multiple initiatives, each of which grew in substantial part from the observations and experiences of its member educators. These individuals developed teaching strategies which helped to level the playing field for many students who otherwise would not have received the specific attention, early in their educational careers, which they required in order to excel. In so doing, they reduce the number of students who face suspension and other disciplinary activity, due to an educational infrastructure that is poorly constructed to handle individual student needs.
Teach for America is a wide-reaching and dedicated organization, with passionate, professionally accredited members all across the United States. Their goal is to even out the landscape, to create a future in which an American child’s education is based, not on the color of their skin or the money their parents earn, but on their desires, abilities and preferences. Teach for America envisions a world in which all children are faced with the same opportunity to grow and excel, regardless of factors which are beyond their determination.
See also: Top 10 Best Online Masters in Teaching Degree Programs
