Fwd: Rethink TFA | The Harvard Crimson

[Dan Carroll]

EML - thanks for calling out the emperor for having no clothes!

This is a conversation I have (and I'm sure we all have) all the time. Personally, I know I was far worse for my kids than a "lifer" alternative (but maybe better for the CMO?). 

My pet solution is to have varying time commitments by region (ie Seattle/Boston = 10 yrs, Colorado = 5 years, Dakota res = 1-2 yrs). 

Is there any truth to the rumors that TFA fights so hard to place in Boston/Seattle/etc just to have classrooms for donor tours?

dcc

Begin forwarded message:

From: Robert Prior <rjp...@gmail.com>
Date: February 11, 2013, 7:50:54 AM PST
To: Daniel Carroll <daniel.c...@gmail.com>
Subject: Rethink TFA | The Harvard Crimson

What do you think??


http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/2/11/rethinking-teach-for-america/#.URj6e6E1OvM.facebook

[Paras Bhayani]

I agree with a lot of it, as Dan said below. I also wonder whether there is a difference by subject area, in addition to geography. From my experience, in an old urban district, I think TFAers provide more value when they teach hard-to-staff subjects where there are shortages (i.e., physics, chemistry, upper level math -- and, of course, SPED, which is the biggest shortage in Chicago and a lot of other big city districts). TNTP has placement in hard to staff subjects as part of their mission (and Chicago Teaching Fellows, at least, only places in the areas I mentioned above).

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[Daniel Carroll]

I have major reservations about TFA SPED placements. Were any of you SPED? Did you feel like it was possible to be a good teacher (& legally compliant) with 5 weeks of training?

[Ramya Parthasarathy]

I was a SPED teacher -- and definitely struggled with the SPED-specific aspects of my job (the IEPs and legal compliance, e.g.) more than the other aspects of teaching.  And that, I think, was due in large part to the fact that TFA had tons of resources to help me improve my pedagogy, but very little to say about what it meant to be a good advocate for the legal rights of my students.  Within my district (Philadelphia), too, the resources for being a good SPEDucator were few and far between because the district's incentives were misaligned with regards to their students with special needs.  (Any commitment on the part of an IEP to provide services meant additional costs for the district, so we were explicitly cautioned against adding add'l services for speech, OT, PT, etc. on our own).  

Re: turnover, during my second year in Philadelphia, the district also went through huge budget cuts and ended up laying off ~1,500 teachers--many of whom were first- and second-year teachers.  The consequence of which was movement either to charters or out of the classroom...  This isn't to say that TFA isn't responsible for encouraging (or excusing) teachers who leave after two years, but it does remind us that there are broader problems with teacher retention.  

Also, EML -- thanks for (re)starting this convo among us TFA'ers.  I'm sad to say that I'm one of the teachers who left after two years, and frequently wonder whether I should have stayed in a classroom (though likely not in Philadelphia, given the layoffs).  

Ramya Parthasarathy

rmparth...@gmail.com
ram...@stanford.edu

408.981.6061

[Emma Lind]

Hi all!

I think Charley McNamara (taught in the Delta for two years and is now getting a PhD unrelated to K-12 education) raised an interesting point on Facebook when he suggested somewhat tongue-in-cheek (but not entirely) that if TFA was truly concerned with ensuring its alumni contributed to education than it should make its goals more explicit and measurable: "Maybe something TFA as an institution should take more seriously is acknowledging that it doesn't keep its alums at the forefront of educational change after they leave. Yes, corps members "can share their experiences" in their new sectors, but perhaps TFA should set some (dare I say) measurable and achievable big goals for its alums...."

I feel at least like more direct pressure from TFA as a second year to stay in the classroom would be appropriate. Now, you probably receive more support from TFA if you apply to grad school, a business job, etc. than if you want to stay a public-school teacher. When I was a second-year CM I felt like I was pushed via email "blasts" etc. to go into policy or law, supported to go to a charter school (which in the Delta essentially means out of region), and left *completely* to my own devices to find a public school at which I could work after mine devolved into chaos (apparently the school has since been resurrected and placed CMs again this year).

Miss you all!

Emma

[Jay Cohen]

Thanks for writing Emma! Obviously I can only speak to my own experience, but I will say that I felt definite pressure from TFA New York to remain in the classroom beyond the two years (I'm sad/embarrassed to say that I did not).

Jay

Jay Michael Cohen
970.519.1248