National Nonprofit Joins Local Effort to Expand Educational Opportunity for Students in Rhode Island Public Schools
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kerci Marcello Stroud | Teach For America
917.734.4847 | kerci.marcellostroud@teachforamerica.org
PROVIDENCE, February 1, 2010—Teach For America announced today that it will expand to Rhode Island, with plans to bring 30 top college graduates to teach in the state’s highest-need schools for the 2010-11 school year and 30 additional teachers in each of the following two years. The organization, whose teachers will apply for positions in the Providence Public School District and at Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley charter school, received a warm welcome from Sen. Jack Reed, Representative Jim Langevin, Mayor David N. Cicilline, R.I. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah A. Gist, and other local supporters during the announcement at the Rhode Island Foundation.
“The single most important factor in the education of our students is the effectiveness of our teachers,” Commissioner Gist said. “That’s why my highest priority for Rhode Island is ensuring that every student has excellent teachers. For that to happen, we have to expand the variety of pathways into the teaching profession by attracting outstanding programs like Teach For America to Rhode Island. I’m confident that Teach For America will provide us with wonderful, talented teachers and leaders for years to come.”
Teach For America is the national corps of top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. This year’s 4,000 new corps members earned an average GPA of 3.6, and 89 percent held undergraduate leadership positions. They were selected from a record pool of 35,000 applicants, including 14 percent of seniors at Brown University and 4 percent of seniors at Providence College.
Teach For America decided to expand to Rhode Island based on the state’s compelling vision of how the organization’s presence will help to close student achievement gaps; the existence of a feasible alternate route to teacher certification; the commitment by local partners to place a critical mass of corps members across the range of subject areas and grade levels; and community support that will enable Teach For America to fund the new site in a sustainable way.
“We are immensely thankful for the leadership and support of Commissioner Gist, the Rhode Island Foundation, and many others who have embraced Teach For America as part of a long-term strategy to strengthen Rhode Island’s public schools,” said Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder of Teach For America. “We are excited to build on their local reform efforts by providing a new pipeline of high-quality teachers and education leaders who are deeply committed to expanding opportunity for all of Rhode Island’s children.”
Leading local philanthropists Letitia and John Carter, Dorothy and Norman McCulloch, and Joan Wernig Sorensen and Paul Sorensen, all working with The Rhode Island Foundation, made Teach For America’s expansion to Rhode Island possible. These individuals, along with the Foundation, were the earliest supporters of the effort, which quickly drew a select number of additional donors, including Fidelity Investments, Alan G. Hassenfeld; Richard L. Bready; Bank of America; Peggy and Henry D. Sharpe, Jr.; Robert J. and Mary D. Higgins; Susan and David Hibbitt; Samuel M. Mencoff; Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLP; Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge; Suzanne and Terrence Murray; Elizabeth and Malcolm G. Chace; Susan and Habib Y. Gorgi; and Marie J. Langlois.
“All Rhode Island school children deserve a high-quality education. Their future success—and the future success of our state—depends on it,” said Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil D. Steinberg. “For two decades, Teach For America teachers have led students in low-income communities nationwide to dramatic improvements in their academic achievement. This approach works. We are honored to have played a part in bringing Teach For America to Rhode Island.”
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that Teach For America corps members are highly effective in the classroom. An Urban Institute study published in 2008 and updated last year found that high school students taught by Teach For America teachers 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 updated study is available at www.caldercenter.org/upload/TFA_final_v-March-2009.pdf.
Beyond their impact as corps members, Teach For America alumni continue to advocate for children and families in low-income communities as public school teachers, principals, and leaders across all professional fields. Some two-thirds of the 17,000 Teach For America alumni across the country are working full-time in education, and one-third continue as classroom teachers. Nearly 40 alumni call Rhode Island home, including Jeremy Chiappetta (New York Corps ’95), the executive director and founding head of school at Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley.
In conjunction with the expansion announcement, Teach For America named Providence native Heather Tow-Yick the founding executive director of Teach For America-Rhode Island. As a 1998 Teach For America corps member in New York, Tow-Yick taught eighth grade English and U.S. history in the South Bronx. After teaching, Tow-Yick joined Teach For America’s staff and held several instructional leadership roles training and supporting corps members. She then worked for the New York City schools chancellor and later served as a consultant at the Bridgespan Group before returning to Teach For America as a managing director on the human assets team. Tow-Yick holds a B.A. from Brown University, a master’s degree in education from Teachers College at Columbia University, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
“I am thrilled to return home to help bring Teach For America to the Ocean State,” Tow-Yick said. “Our corps members will arrive in Rhode Island ready to do whatever it takes to help their students succeed. I know, with the support of their schools and the community, these teachers can have a lasting impact in some of our state’s highest-need classrooms.”
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, 7,300 corps members are teaching in 35 regions across the country while 17,000 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.
Remarks from Local Leaders
“I have long been advocating for Teach For America to expand to our state. This innovative program is a model that has been proven to work. It’s gratifying to me that Teach For America will be bringing its program to Rhode Island. This will enable us to further our collective efforts to ensure that we have high quality teachers who will empower our students to meet the challenges of higher education and the 21st century workforce.”
-Governor Donald L. Carcieri
“I am pleased to be a part of the effort to bring Teach For America to Rhode Island. Great teachers help make great schools and today's announcement is part of a broader effort by Rhode Island teachers to continue improving our schools. Teach For America has a record of putting talented teachers into the highest-need classrooms. These new teachers will have a positive impact on students, both in the classroom and as role models for what it means to give back to the community.”
-U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“Teach For America has a long track record of excellence and success in schools across the country, and it is wonderful to now welcome the program to Rhode Island. Teach For America will enhance the efforts of our state’s dedicated teacher workforce and help students gain the education necessary for their future success.”
-Congressman Patrick Kennedy
“I applaud Teach For America for investing their talent and resources in Rhode Island’s education system. One of Rhode Island’s most celebrated senators, Claiborne Pell, strongly believed that education was the great equalizer, and we must continue to reach that goal. I look forward to following the progress of Teach For America and our state’s education system.”
-Congressman Jim Langevin
"Teach For America is an exciting nationwide development—one could justly say movement—that has every potential to enhance the progressive educational efforts already under way in Providence. I commend the talented and devoted Teach For America corps members and wish them every success."
-Mayor David N. Cicilline
“We are eager to welcome Teach For America as a partner in our efforts to attract and hire qualified teachers in Providence Schools. TFA has a proven track record of providing qualified, energetic and dedicated candidates, especially those with the skills to teach in hard-to-fill subject areas like math and science. My experience in working with TFA in other cities confirms the high caliber of the organization and its recruits.”
-Providence Schools Superintendent Thomas M. Brady
“To put all of my students on the pathway to college, I’m looking for passionate and dedicated teachers who will set high expectations for their students and work relentlessly to ensure that they succeed. Teach For America’s corps members are those types of teachers. As an alum of the program, I’m pleased to welcome Teach For America to Rhode Island.”
-Jeremy Chiappetta, head of school at Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley
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