Can Teach for America Remake Education? | Newsweek Education

Lessons From Locke

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Teach For America recruits can't close the achievement gap, but its alumni might. TFA knows that it will take systemic change to zap the gap. It's banking on its alums—in whatever field they eventually choose—to lead the charge. Some already are. In Washington, D.C., the reforming schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, is a 1992 TFA alum. The founders of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), the wildly successful chain of 57 charter schools, are 1992 TFA alums, too. Nationwide, there are now 360 school leaders and 16 elected officials who got their start in public service with Teach For America. By 2010, the ranks of America's next generation of leaders will be seeded with 20,000 high-achieving alums who will have seen the crisis in our classrooms firsthand. If, as Francis Bacon once said, knowledge in itself truly is power—if by knowing the profundity of the problem TFA alum will be empowered to find its solution—then Wendy Kopp's battle for educational equity will be won. Big ifs.

Foote, a former NEWSWEEK correspondent, is author of “Relentless Pursuit, A Year in the Trenches With Teach For America,” published by Knopf, April 2008.

It seems to be open season on teachers, led by the likes of Michelle Rhee, who think the problem in education is poor teachers. This is tantamount to blaming a physics professor for failing a student that took advanced physics, regardless of it being their first time in a physics classroom. Gauging teachers on the outcome of a standardized test would be the same as gauging the physics professor on that one student. Teachers do not have the luxury of picking their students, and as the article stated the school Wendy Locke was embedded in had only 11 percent of students who read on their grade level. How is a teacher suppose to have these students proficient enough to pass state tests if less time is spent on teaching the material and more time is spent on remedial studies?

The real solution is not to fire every teacher and try to find ???perfect??? replacements, but to get these kids into head-start programs. Study after study shows that the sooner a child is read to and their mind is engaged in intellectual activities the better they will do in school. So it is not the ???stupid teacher,??? it is the home life and living environment of the student, many of which come from an environment where education is not highly regarded. States and school districts need to focus less on piling on test after test and rather move needed resources to programs and daycares that engage the child at the earliest possible.

Finally, I take issue with the author stating that many teachers come from ???diploma mills.??? What exactly is she implying? If you did not attend a college with ivy growing on the buildings you came from a so called diploma mill. I attended a state college and now teach and believe that my education and training was top notch. I also believe I know my subject area well and I am an effective teacher.

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Posted By: wilbrown @ 10/31/2008 1:46:55 PM

gggg
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Posted By: wilbrown @ 10/31/2008 1:45:05 PM

I entered the teaching profession after 24 years of military service. I see the problems in schools primarily as a lack of discipline, direction and guidance. I teach in a rural school in upstate NY. Many of my students see no future and therfore see no need for school. While I try to make the most of the 40 minutes a day that I have them the influence outside of my classroom by peers and parents overwhelms any message that I may be trying to instill. When schools are viewed as social centers and not centers of learning we will continue to face the same problems.
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Posted By: texas kid @ 08/14/2008 11:52:11 PM

It seems to be open season on teachers, led by the likes of Michelle Rhee, who think the problem in education is poor teachers. This is tantamount to blaming a physics professor for failing a student that took advanced physics, regardless of it being their first time in a physics classroom. Gauging teachers on the outcome of a standardized test would be the same as gauging the physics professor on that one student. Teachers do not have the luxury of picking their students, and as the article stated the school Wendy Locke was embedded in had only 11 percent of students who read on their grade level. How is a teacher suppose to have these students proficient enough to pass state tests if less time is spent on teaching the material and more time is spent on remedial studies?

The real solution is not to fire every teacher and try to find ???perfect??? replacements, but to get these kids into head-start programs. Study after study shows that the sooner a child is read to and their mind is engaged in intellectual activities the better they will do in school. So it is not the ???stupid teacher,??? it is the home life and living environment of the student, many of which come from an environment where education is not highly regarded. States and school districts need to focus less on piling on test after test and rather move needed resources to programs and daycares that engage the child at the earliest possible.

Finally, I take issue with the author stating that many teachers come from ???diploma mills.??? What exactly is she implying? If you did not attend a college with ivy growing on the buildings you came from a so called diploma mill. I attended a state college and now teach and believe that my education and training was top notch. I also believe I know my subject area well and I am an effective teacher.