What is the summer training institute
like?
A typical day is intense and designed to help corps members progress quickly as teachers. In the mornings and early afternoons, corps members teach in a district summer school program, under the close supervision of veteran educators from the hosting school district and Teach For America instructional staff. In the late afternoons and evenings, corps members participate in interactive courses and clinics to build knowledge, deepen skills, and apply learning to upcoming teaching. Although there is little formal programming on weekends, corps members usually find it important to do lesson planning and preparation on Saturdays and Sundays, or to study for and take any required tests. Learn more about the training and hear from corps members about their experiences at the summer training institute.
Do I have to attend the entire summer training institute?
Yes. Given the ambitious goals of preparing corps members to be effective teachers and increasing the academic achievement of their summer school students, the summer institute schedule is very full. Thus, corps members must attend the entire five weeks of the institute. Events generally are not scheduled on Saturdays, but corps members often meet with institute staff and other corps members on Sunday evenings. Also, corps members often find it necessary to spend some time over the weekend preparing for teaching summer school during the week. It is also important to note that some certification exams are administered during weekends, and corps members who have not already taken their exams must be present to take them on those dates. Corps members who experience an unforeseen personal or family emergency during the institute work with institute staff to find a suitable solution.
Can I choose the location of my summer training
institute?
No. The location of your summer training institute depends on your regional placement. Each institute houses corps members from a specific set of regions, so that corps members can collaborate with one another and build the relationships that will be crucial during their two-year commitment. Teach For America operates summer training institutes in seven locations: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. The summer institute typically begins sometime in June. Read more about the 2008 summer institute locations, regional assignments, and dates.
What should I do if I have a conflict with the required
dates of institute for a region in which I prefer to teach?
Corps members are required to attend the entirety of the institute corresponding to their assigned region. See institute schedule (please note that these schedules are subject to change). Attending the institute that corresponds to a regional assignment is important because of the dates corps members must begin teaching in their region, and because corps members attend region-specific events and build critical relationships with others from their region while at the institute. For these important reasons, we encourage applicants that anticipate potential conflicts to explore the flexibility of their conflict or their preference for other regions. We know there are some applicants who have a highly urgent personal circumstance or need to teach in a region which corresponds to an institute that poses a date or location conflict. In these cases, we recommend applicants still apply and share this information when they complete their assignment preference form.
What are the living arrangements during
the summer training institute?
During the institute, all corps members and staff members live and work together in dormitory-style housing. Housing and meals are paid for by Teach For America. Because of the demanding schedule of the institute and the need to collaborate with other corps members and institute faculty, all corps members are required to live in institute housing for the five weeks of the institute. Teach For America can arrange family housing for corps members who choose to bring family members to the institute; however, corps members are responsible for any costs incurred for the lodging of family members.
What kind of support does Teach For America offer
after the summer training institute?
Teach For America's regional offices provide corps members with ongoing professional development during the two-year commitment. Our role begins in corps member placement, where we secure corps members' teaching assignments and strive to ensure they are teaching in schools with other corps members and/or alumni so they can collaborate on projects and support one another’s development. In 2007, more than 93 percent of corps members were placed in schools with other corps members and/or alumni.
Regional support continues after the summer institute, where all corps members participate in additional training before and during the beginning of the school year. These sessions, some offered in-person and others on-line, focus on developing effective goals, assessments and plans—the building blocks of effective instruction. Corps members also learn how to conduct a diagnosis of their students' readiness, as well as how to use ongoing data measuring student performance to adjust their instruction.
In addition to the professional development all effective teachers pursue on their own, each corps member has a program director who shares responsibility for classroom goals by reviewing student performance data, conducting observations, analyzing the causes of results, brainstorming solutions, and keeping the corps member accountable to improvement. Corps members also attend content area and grade level groups facilitated by excellent teachers, observe other excellent teachers, and participate in professional development discussions with their principals, fellow corps members, and other staff.
Teach For America regional staff also work with local school districts, schools of education, professional associations, and other organizations to connect corps members to the best professional development and teaching resources available. In addition, corps members can access various electronic resources to improve their performance, including the Student Achievement Toolkit and the Teaching as Leadership Online Navigator (TALON). The Student Achievement Toolkit is a compilation of grade and content-specific instructional planning materials to help corps members create the unit plans, assessments and lesson plans necessary to lead their students to success. TALON is a tool that provides interpretive guidance and annotated illustrations for the Teaching as Leadership Framework. (The Teaching as Leadership Framework articulates the key strategies used by highly effective corps members and forms the basis for Teach For America’s definition of teacher effectiveness). Learn more about ongoing support and hear what corps members are saying about their ongoing professional development.
How will I get settled into my region?
In most regions, corps members attend a regional induction before the institute and an orientation after the institute. Both events are organized by local Teach For America staff members and are designed to orient corps members to their assigned region and our training and support continuum. During this time, new corps members meet second-year corps members, Teach For America alumni, regional staff members, and local community leaders. In addition they may attend hiring fairs and interviews and also have time to find apartments, set up bank accounts, and take care of other tasks related to their transition. Hear what corps members are saying about their experiences in a new community.
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