For Immediate Release
Contact: Kerci Marcello Stroud | Teach For America
917.734.4847 | kerci.marcellostroud@teachforamerica.org
WASHINGTON D.C., March 25, 2009—The Urban Institute’s CALDER research center has released an updated version of its 2008 study of the impact of Teach For America corps members teaching high school. The updated study included a larger sample size than the original as well as additional analyses comparing the impact of corps members with that of other groups of teachers. The updated report confirms the original findings that corps members have a positive effect on student achievement relative to other teachers, including experienced teachers, traditionally prepared teachers, and those fully certified in their field. The impact of having a Teach For America corps member was more than twice the impact of having a teacher with three or more years of experience. The researchers concluded that:
The findings show that TFA teachers are more effective, as measured by student exam performance, than traditional teachers. Moreover, they suggest that the TFA effect, at least in the grades and subjects investigated, exceeds the impact of additional years of experience, implying that TFA teachers are more effective than experienced secondary school teachers. The positive TFA results are robust across subject areas, but are particularly strong for math and science classes.
Read the full study, revised March 2009 »
Read more studies on Teach For America’s impact »
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Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. This year, 6,200 corps members are teaching in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country while more than 14,000 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 www.teachforamerica.org.
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