education

Understanding Education: Teach for America (TFA)

Photo by Zuzana Ruttkay on Unsplash

Teach for America (TFA) was founded in 1989 by Wendy Kopp, spurred by an undergraduate thesis from Princeton.

TFA garnered a great deal of political and media support, notably during the Obama administration and concurrent with the popularity of charter schools (notably the Knowledge is Power Program [KIPP] charter school network).

However, in recent years TFA has seen a significant decline in participants amid greater and greater criticism and scrutiny of the organization’s claims and practices.

Despite some mostly in-house research showing some cases where TFA candidates seem to have students with gains (typically in math), many criticisms exist, including the following:

  • TFA significantly de-values teacher education and academic work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
  • TFA over-estimates that high-achieving college students can quickly and easily transition into full-time teachers, especially in the context of high-poverty, high-needs students.
  • Despite diversity and equity claims, TFA candidates tend to be affluent and white, serving disproportionately poor students and Black/brown students.
  • Initially created to address teacher shortages, TFA often displaces veteran teachers (certified and unionized) at an added cost to districts. (See the displacement of veteran teachers in New Orleans after Katrina as one example.)
  • The extreme “no excuses” ideology of TFA, combined with KIPP and other “no excuses” charter schools, has resulted in traumatic experiences for teachers and students.
  • TFA advocates are blinded by missionary zeal and paternalistic practices that often do more harm than good.

Below are resources for critically considering TFA:

Understanding Education: Series