105 New Teach For America Teachers Join Local Efforts to Expand Educational Opportunity

ST. LOUIS, June 7, 2011—Teach For America announced today that 105 new teachers will teach in St. Louis beginning this fall as part of the largest entering corps in the organization’s history.  With the addition of these teachers, 200 corps members will be working in high-need public schools in St. Louis this fall, collectively reaching more than 14,000 students.

“This year’s incoming corps members represent a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, but they share extraordinary leadership ability and a deep commitment to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential,” said Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach For America. “We are excited to be channeling the energy of such a diverse and talented corps into teaching in urban and rural public schools and into the long-term effort to achieve educational excellence and equity.”

 Teach For America’s new national corps totals 5,200 teachers who are top graduates from colleges and universities across the country. One-third identify as people of color, including 12 percent who are African American and 8 percent who are Hispanic. Twenty-two percent are the first in their families to graduate from college, and nearly one-third received Pell Grants. Twenty-three percent are graduate students or professionals.

This year, nearly 48,000 individuals applied to Teach For America, and 14 percent were accepted. Applicants included 5 percent of seniors at Washington University in St. Louis.  

 “We are thrilled to welcome this incoming corps to St. Louis,” said Scott Baier, Teach For America’s executive director in the city. “These 105 new teachers are poised to have a profound impact on St. Louis’s highest-need schools and students. We need more teachers like Jack Vulysteke at Central VPA, who led his class to 76 percent proficiency on the state end-of-course exam.”

A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members in the classroom. Recent studies from Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee, found that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. The Tennessee study identified Teach For America as the most effective of the state’s 42 teacher-preparation programs, with corps members demonstrating a greater impact on student achievement than the average new teacher in every evaluated subject area.

School leaders give Teach For America corps members high marks. Nationwide, 94 percent of principals who employ corps members report seeing a positive impact in the classroom. 

Teach For America is building a strong pipeline of leaders in education. Two-thirds of Teach For America alumni are working full-time in the field, with more than 550 alumni serving as school principals or school system leaders. A total of 290 Teach For America alumni are living and working in St. Louis.

About Teach For America

Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, more than 9,000 corps members are teaching in 43 regions across the country while nearly 24,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org.