Teach For America's impact on student achievement

The Effects of Teach For America on Students
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (2004)

The most rigorous study on corps member impact on student achievement was released in 2004 by Mathematica Policy Research, a leading research firm. Utilizing research methodology widely regarded as the gold standard, researchers randomly assigned students to the classrooms of corps members or other new and veteran teachers at the same grade levels and schools, and these students took a norm-referenced test (the Iowa Basic Skills Test) at the beginning and end of the year. The study found that students of Teach For America corps members:

• Make more progress in a year in both reading and math than would typically be expected.
• Attain significantly greater gains in math than the students of other teachers in the study, even when compared to veteran and certified teachers.
• The study also found that corps members are working in the highest-need classrooms in the country, where students begin the year on average at the 14th percentile against the national norm.

Read full study

Teach For America’s impact in high schools

Making a Difference? The Effects of Teach for America in High School
The Urban Institute/CALDER Research Center (2008)

The Urban Institute's CALDER Research Center conducted a study of the impact of Teach For America corps members on high school students. Researchers analyzed North Carolina student exam data from 2000 through 2006 in order to examine differences between the impact on student achievement of Teach For America corps members and other comparison groups composed of non-Teach For America teachers. The study found that Teach For America teachers have a positive effect on high school students’ achievement, relative to non-Teach For America teachers, including those who are fully certified in their subject areas. The effect on student of achievement of having a Teach For America teacher was three times the effect of having a teacher with three or more years of experience.

Read full study

Survey of principals who hire Teach For America corps members

Teach For America National Principal Survey
Policy Studies Associates (2007)

Principals who manage our corps members overwhelmingly express a high level of satisfaction, reporting that corps members are well prepared and have a significant and positive impact on their schools and on student achievement, according to an independent study conducted in 2007 by Policy Studies Associates.

• Nearly all principals (95 percent) rate Teach For America corps members as effective as, if not more effective than, other beginning teachers in terms of overall performance and impact on student achievement.
• Nearly two-thirds of principals (61 percent) regard Teach For America teachers as more effective compared with other beginning teachers in their schools with respect to their impact on student achievement.
• The vast majority of principals rate corps members as good or excellent on indicators of effective teaching and behaviors, including:
  • Holding high expectations for students (94 percent)
  • Setting ambitious goals for student achievement (92 percent)
  • Planning purposefully to achieve these goals (90 percent)
  • Executing goal-oriented plans effectively to maximize student learning (89 percent)
  • Possessing knowledge of the subject matter (90 percent)
  • Developing positive relationships with colleagues and administrators (89 percent)

Read full survey highlights

How teacher preparation impacts student achievement

Louisiana Value-Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Study
Louisiana Practitioner Teacher Project (2007)

A multi-year study of teacher preparation programs in Louisiana found that teachers who participate in the Louisiana Practitioner Teacher Project—most of whom are Teach For America corps members—are having a powerful impact on student achievement in mathematics. (The sample sizes were not sufficient to gauge impact in reading.) The study recognized the LPTP program as a "Level 1" program, which is defined as a program with evidence that "new teachers prepared by the program are more effective than experienced teachers (as well as other new teachers) in increasing student achievement"—a rating that far surpasses what the authors define as reasonable expectations for programs preparing new teachers.

Read the press release from the Louisiana Board of Regents

How teacher qualifications impact student achievement

The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and Its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools
The Urban Institute/CALDER Research Center (2007)

Researchers with the Urban Institute's CALDER Center found that since 2000, the influx of teachers in New York City with strong academic backgrounds recruited through Teach For America and NYC Teaching Fellows significantly narrowed the "qualifications gap" between high-poverty and low-poverty schools, and contributed to student achievement gains that were most substantial in the city's highest-poverty schools.

Read the working paper from the CALDER Research Center