In many of my school visits, I go into classrooms where there are Teach For America teachers, and I’m always impressed with them. I think Teach For America is having an impact in more ways than we probably even realize right now.
- Dr. Beverly L. Hall, Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools
This year, a corps of 200 of the nation’s most promising future leaders are teaching in our city’s lowest-income classrooms as a part of Teach For America • Atlanta. They are working to ensure their students have the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are a leadership force, working from within education and every professional sector to effect broader change. Together they are helping us make educational equity a reality in Atlanta. Learn about living and teaching in Atlanta.
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Press | |
Corps Impact | |
Alumni Impact | |
Financial Sustainability | |
Regional Supporters | |
Contact Us | |
Executive Director |
Following is recent press coverage about Teach For America • Atlanta. Click on a headline to view the full story.
During the 2007-08 school year, 200 corps members are directly impacting the lives of more than 17,000 students in Atlanta. Jennifer Freeman is one example of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.
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Jennifer Freeman (Atlanta Corps '05) |
Jennifer Freeman (Corps ‘05) teaches seventh grade science at Walden Middle School in Southwest Atlanta. Last year, only one of her students had ever done a science experiment before stepping in to her classroom. Most of her students were reading and writing below a fourth grade level. By the end of the year, 90 percent of those same students met or exceeded expectations on the CRCT (the state standardized test that measures mastery of grade level content). Jennifer is now teaching for a third year at Walden Middle School and is teaching her students from last year to further her impact.
Atlanta: Our Impact on Students and Schools Today
| School Year | Corps Members | Students Reached |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 165 | 14,025 |
| 2007-08 | 200* | 17,000* |
| 2008-09 | 252* | 21,420* |
| 2009-10 | 285* | 24,225* |
*projected |
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Principal Satisfaction
*"Teach For America 2007 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2007.
Impact on Student Achievement
According to a highly regarded study by Mathematica Policy Research, corps members outpaced fully certified and veteran
teachers in their schools in moving their students ahead academically. Read national results.
Student Profile
Atlanta: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | # of Corps Members | % of Corps |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 18 | 9% |
| Science | 33 | 16.5% |
| Spanish | 7 | 3.5% |
| Special Education | 9 | 4.5% |
| Social Studies | 22 | 11% |
| English | 23 | 11.5% |
| Elementary | 88 | 44% |
| Total | 200 | 100% |
*Percentages are rounded and may not add up to 100 percent.
Characteristics of the 2008 Corps
| Corps Profile | Top alma maters by marketshare* |
|---|---|
| Average GPA: 3.6 | Spelman College : 16% |
| Average SAT: 1320 | Morehouse College, Williams College, Yale University: 11% |
| Held leadership roles on campus: 95% | Duke University, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, Wake Forest University, Wesleyan University: 10% |
| People of color: 29% | Amherst College, Harvard University, Haverford University, Notre Dame University, Princeton University, Rice University: 6% |
*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 700 Teach For America • Atlanta alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
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Scott Painter (Atlanta Corps '01) |
Scott Painter and Monica Groves are two of the many alumni continuing to work toward our vision in Atlanta. As a chemical engineering graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, Scott Painter (Corps ‘00) taught for four successful years as an Advanced Placement physics teacher and led the district’s Advanced Placement Initiative to ensure a growing number of students successfully completed AP courses. During his commitment he was awarded both a Superintendent’s Grant to work on the “First Manned Mission to Mars” physics/calculus/programming project and the South Atlanta High School’s Teacher of the Year Award. Scott is now serving as the principal of the South Atlanta Academy of Engineering and Computer Science.
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Monica Groves (Atlanta Corps '04) |
Monica Groves (Corps ‘04) taught sixth grade language arts at Young Middle School in Southwest Atlanta. Her first year teaching, 65 percent of her students met or exceeded expectations on the CRCT (the state standardized test that measures mastery of grade level content). Throughout her first year, Monica critically thought about the challenges that her students faced and generated logical solutions. As a result, in her second year teaching, 97 percent of her students met or exceeded expectations on the CRCT. After her two-year commitment, Monica attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education and graduated in 2007 with a master’s in teaching and curriculum. Her commitment to the city of Atlanta, her students, and the community is evident as she returned to Young Middle School in the fall of 2007 and is now teaching eighth grade language arts. Her entire first year of teaching was profiled in a 2006 Dateline NBC documentary titled ‘The Education of Ms.Groves.’
Growing Our Impact: Funding Needs, 2007-2010
Each additional recruit is another dedicated teacher for children growing up in low-income communities in Atlanta, and another talented leader with the insight and commitment necessary to sustain the reform efforts underway, which is critical to the ongoing vitality of our region.
| Year | Corps Size | Revenue Needs |
|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | 200 | $3.1 million* |
| 2008-09 | 252* | $3.7 million* |
| 2009-10 | 285* | $4.3 million* |
*projected |
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We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in Atlanta. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.
| Advisory Board |
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| Cecil Phillips Place Properties Board Chair |
| Kathy Augustine Atlanta Public Schools |
| Sara Jean Burke Community Volunteer |
| Jennie Hyman Community Volunteer |
| Skip Kazmarek McKenna Long & Aldridge |
| Susan Lampley Providence Investment Group, LLC |
| Hal Logan Manheim Auctions |
| Ed Michaels Retired Director – McKinsey & Company, Inc. |
| Joanie Michaels Community Volunteer |
| Teed M. Poe Community Volunteer |
| Lisa Simington Goldman Sachs |
| John “Kit” Weitnauer Alston & Bird, LLP |
| Corporation, Foundation and Public Support Show more + |
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|---|---|---|---|
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We thank the following lead corporate supporters for their extraordinary support of our work:
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$200,000 - $499,999 |
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| Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation The Zeist Foundation |
Atlanta Public Schools | ||
$100,000 - $199,999 |
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| Anonymous Printpack, Inc. |
Fulton County Schools | ||
To support Teach For America • Atlanta with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:
Teach For America • Atlanta
Kwame Griffith, Executive Director
NaShawndra Jackson-Davis, Managing Director of Development
Ten Peachtree Place, 7th Floor
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
p 404.688.9843, f 404.688.9850
kwame.griffith@teachforamerica.org
nashawndra.davis@teachforamerica.org
Kwame Griffith was a 2002 corps member in Houston, where he led his fourth and fifth grade students to progress 1.5 grade levels in a single year. After completing his two-year corps commitment, he served as a Teach For America recruitment director, focusing on a portfolio of schools on the East Coast, including his alma mater, Cornell. In this role, Griffith secured a 34 percent increase in matriculated corps members in 2005 and a 40 percent increase in total applications in 2006. He went on to assume the role of director of diversity outreach, working in conjunction with the Recruitment team to achieve a 26.1 percent increase in accepted African-American seniors and a 6.6 percent increase in acceptance rates for Latino/Hispanic seniors. Additionally, Griffith planned and executed the organization's first diversity hosting weekend, drove the creation of a diversity recruitment team, and developed partnerships with several large national organizations that work primarily with people of color. Most recently, Griffith served as a school director at Teach For America's summer institute in Atlanta.
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