Each day we see the realities of educational inequity juxtaposed against the concrete evidencethat when students in low-income communitiesare given opportunities they deserve, they excel.

Equity Within Reach: Insights from the Front Lines of America's Achievement Gap

Results from a Survey of Teach For America Corps Members, November 2005

"I don't think the public at large understands to what extent schools have control over their own success. I believe that a school can create a culture of achievement and have success with even the most difficult and academically challenged student populations."

- - 4th Grade Teacher, New York City Corps

Purpose of this study

There is growing consensus among educators and policy makers that the gap in academic outcomes that exists along socioeconomic and racial lines is the most pressing educational challenge of our day. Given their daily work teaching in public schools in our nation's lowest-income urban and rural communities, Teach For America teachers—or "corps members"—bring a valuable perspective to the public discussion of this achievement gap.

This report is the result of a survey of nearly 2,000 of these teachers finishing their first and second years in the classroom, along with almost 200 incoming corps members who were just beginning their training. The survey addressed corps members' beliefs about causes of and solutions to the achievement gap, as well as their own experiences in the classroom.

Teach For America corps members work alongside thousands of committed, talented teachers in our nation's lowest-income urban and rural communities. We hope that in thinking about education reform, policy makers and the general public alike will draw on the perspectives of these teachers working on a daily basis to close the achievement gap for their students.

Major findings

The topics addressed in the survey are complex, and corps members' responses reflected that complexity. At the same time, very strong trends emerged from the survey data. Of particular note were these key findings:

  • Educators have the power to close achievement gaps. Corps members emphasize the potential of both teachers and principals to change academic outcomes for students—in spite of all the external challenges.
  • Expectations of students—from teachers, schools, parents, the general public, and students themselves—are both a powerful tool and a powerful obstacle. Corps members see low expectations as a significant cause of the achievement gap; they believe that increased common belief in the potential of low-income students and students of color is key to closing the gap; and their experience as teachers has strengthened their belief in their students' ability to meet high expectations.
  • Funding, in itself, is not the answer. Teacher quality and expectations of students outranked funding as both causes of and solutions to the gap. And as corps members spend more time in the classroom, the priority they place on funding gives way to other factors, such as school leadership. While some of their proposed solutions may require further investment, corps members express skepticism about increasing funding without addressing current allocation of resources.
  • The general public has an inaccurate understanding of issues regarding the achievement gap. Corps members express concern that the public misplaces blame for the gap on students and their families. They also believe that much of the public is simply unaware of the existence of this gap or of the realities of poverty and segregation.