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

BATON ROUGE, La., June 7, 2011—Teach For America announced today that 70 new teachers will teach in South Louisiana beginning this fall as part of the largest entering corps in the organization’s history. With the addition of these teachers, 150 corps members will be working in high-need public schools in South Louisiana this fall, collectively reaching close to 9,000 students.

“Teach For America recruits talented and dedicated individuals to serve as teachers in our most high-need schools,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu. “These enthusiastic young people are working hard in South Louisiana’s classrooms every day to put students on a path to educational and career success. I am thrilled that a new class of Teach For America teachers will be joining South Louisiana’s public schools this fall.”

Teach For America’s new national corps totals 5,100 teachers. These top graduates from colleges and universities across the country 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 more than 100 graduating seniors from Louisiana State University and 20 graduating seniors from Southern University.  

 “We are thrilled to bring top talent from around the country to the Baton Rouge area,” said Michael Tipton, executive director of Teach For America in South Louisiana. “These 70 new teachers are poised to have a real impact on South Louisiana’s highest-need schools and students.”

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 Louisiana study, part of a multi-year statewide study of teacher-preparation programs, found that Teach For America corps members were outperforming other new teachers and were as effective as veteran teachers across the state in math, science, reading, and language arts.

School leaders give Teach For America corps members high marks. Locally, 92 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. These educational leaders include Allison El Koubi (South Louisiana Corps ‘00), principal of East Feliciana Middle School; Megan Peterson-Phillips (South Louisiana Corps ‘01), principal of Jackson Elementary School; and Mark Comanducci (South Louisiana Corps ‘04), principal of Children’s Charter School. More than 100 Teach For America alumni are living and working in South Louisiana.

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.