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

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 8, 2011—Teach For America announced today that 55 new teachers will teach in Alabama beginning this fall as part of the largest entering corps in the organization’s history. With the addition of these teachers, 85 corps members in total will be working in high-need public schools in Alabama next fall, collectively reaching more than 5,000 students.

These 55 new teachers arrived in Alabama today and attended a reception at which State Sen. Hank Sanders delivered remarks welcoming them to the state.

“These dedicated new teachers will strengthen Alabama’s public school classrooms and help ensure that all of our students are getting a great education,” said Sen. Sanders. “By partnering with Teach For America, we will focus on supporting all students in Alabama so that they achieve at high levels.”

Teach For America’s new national corps totals 5,100 teachers who are top graduates from colleges and universities across the country. These corps members represent a wide variety of personal and academic backgrounds and professional experiences. 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 family 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 8 percent of seniors at Tuskegee University and 4 percent of seniors at the University of Alabama and Alabama A&M University.

“Individuals selected to serve for Teach for America are leaders working to make a lasting impact on others. Teach for America promotes educational equality for the students of our nation by selecting dedicated college graduates to teach in underserved communities throughout the U.S. I am proud to congratulate those members selected to serve in Alabama for this sincere cause. Their mission to improve the quality of Alabama’s education is significant, and we are grateful they will work to provide our students a better opportunity in our classrooms,” said U.S. Rep. Martha Roby.  

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.

“We are thrilled to welcome 55 new corps members to Alabama today,” said J.W. Carpenter, executive director of Teach For America in Alabama. “Working alongside veteran educators in our state’s highest-need schools, they are poised to have a positive impact on our students.”

School leaders give Teach For America corps members high marks. Ninety-four percent of principals nationwide who employ corps members report seeing a positive impact in the classroom. 

Teach For Americais 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. In addition, many alumni are launching innovative efforts to expand educational opportunity.

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.