Pass the Chalk: The TFA Blog

This week, federal accountability results were released from schools all across Texas, and more schools and school districts failed to meet the standards for adequately yearly progress than met the standards. One common explanation is the implementation of a new state assessment system—the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness—which is more rigorous than the previous Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. While this is likely one part of the story, I think another important factor is what we do and do not expect of our students, and how we account for their passions.

Photo credit: Stanislav Freidin

On the cusp of another school year, I’ve been spending a lot of time with our 80 starting corps members. Before diving into the incredibly challenging, high-stakes work of teaching, they watched a TEDx talk by human-development expert Peter Benson about how young people thrive. Benson talks about the value of “spark,” an animating energy that gives life hope and purpose. I was challenged to remember my spark when I was in elementary, middle, and high school. I recall that I wanted to be an ichthyologist, to share the sea with sharks. At some point—maybe coinciding with high school biology and an AP course that seemed to take all of the fun out of the miracles of life—I lost that spark.

I’ve soaked in every sweat-filled, pride inducing moment of the Olympics. I’ve laughed at Samuel L. Jackson’s tweets, groaned at every sexist moment of coverage celebrating female athletes for their bodies versus their talent (THEY’RE AT THE FREAKIN OLYMPICS!), celebrated every underdog’s victory, pounded my fists at the smog of racism that permeates so much of the American coverage, and misted up each time an athlete hugs his or her parents.

And finally, in the rare chance to watch an actual live-telecast event here in the US, I closed out the Games with the gold medal men’s basketball game between the US and Spain. I write this deep in the 3rd quarter, where the US team is up by 3, and I can't tell you, at this moment, who is going to win the game.

The Olympic Rings on Tower Bridge in London. Photo by Gonzolito (via WikiCommons).

Here’s what drives me crazy with this men’s team—and where I see so many parallels to education in our country.  They play in fits and starts.  There are moments when they come together as a great team—but all too often the team misses an opportunity to go on a run.  These are great individual performances.  Durant, Bryant, James—they are playing great basketball—but they tend to do so in turns.

Over the last 25 years, we’re playing a similar fits and starts game in education.  

I met Megan Scelfo while I was an undergrad at LSU. She was from Franklin, Louisiana—a small community near the coast in St. Mary Parish. She was also a year younger than me, a dancer, and very passionate about her beliefs. Megan was the first person I ever met who had been taught by Teach For America teachers.

One of Megan’s high school teachers was Brent Maddin, a TFA corps member and science teacher who held study sessions at the Franklin McDonald’s and who pushed students like Megan to excel and take on leadership roles. For Megan, this meant following her interest in the arts and in community service. By the time I met Megan, she was a student in the LSU Honors College, and so was I.

Megan Scelfo (front row, in purple) and Trey Smith (center back, in black) at a meeting of the Rotaract Club of Philadelphia. Photo courtsey of Michael Tipton.

I grew up in Baton Rouge and had never heard of Teach For America until I got to college. Now, I was considering applying for TFA myself. Meanwhile, Megan, her friend Trey Smith, and another friend of theirs worked to start a program called FOCUS (Focusing on College and Ultimate Success)through the Honors College. FOCUS hoped to extend some of the arts and service opportunities that Megan had experienced through Brent to students in other low income communities in Louisiana. Megan and Trey successfully started the program, and FOCUS continues to do great work to this day.

Last week TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) released its new report, "The Irreplaceables," which examines the failure of our education system to retain teachers who have the greatest impact on raising student achievement. As the Huffington Post notes, the report is bound to make waves and drive policy initiatives over the coming year. It was publicized with a ringing endorsement by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and in many ways is a sequel to TNTP’s other seminal report, "The Widget Effect," which is credited with influencing the Department of Education’s Race to the Top competition.

"The Irreplaceables" is pragmatic in its analysis and presentation of solutions. In the four urban districts the researchers surveyed, they found that the 20% of teachers who are most successful in raising student achievement (dubbed the “irreplaceables”) are leaving the profession at almost identical levels to the lowest performing teachers.  But TNTP also learned that three out of four of these top teachers would remain in their schools if their top concerns—ranging from school culture to public recognition—were addressed. 

There’s already a great deal of discussion about the report’s policy implications: the same arguments that have been raised for and against teacher tenure, merit pay, and evaluation models will be debated again. But let’s go beyond pragmatism and talk blue sky.  Something is rotten in our country’s perception of teachers, and it has to change before we'll see a true revolution in the results—both the quality of the overall teaching population and student outcomes.