Teach For America is excited to announce that, for the first time, it will place teachers in Colorado Springs this fall. These teachers will be part of Teach For America’s incoming Colorado corps of 120 teachers.
Press Release—Teach For America today announced that it will place 120 new teachers this fall in Colorado , an increase of more than 70 percent from last year’s incoming corps of 70. In addition to Denver Public Schools and area charter schools, Teach For America will place these corps members in three new districts: Aurora Public Schools , Harrison School District 2, and Mapleton Public Schools .
“Teach For America has been hugely successful in raising student achievement,” said Sen. Michael Bennet. “These four new school districts will benefit immensely from a flood of over 100 new, young, and enthusiastic leaders to work with our own excellent teaching force to help close the achievement gap.”
The newest Colorado corps members are part of a national corps of 4,100 new teachers, the largest incoming class in Teach For America’s 20-year history. Teach For America corps members commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity.
“Talented teachers inspire students to see their own potential and believe they can succeed, and America ’s public schools won’t continue to improve without them,” said Sen. Mark Udall. “This year’s record Teach For America class will not only make that kind of difference in the lives of children from underserved public schools in the Denver area, it will foster educational leadership in Colorado for many years to come.”
Including Colorado , corps members will head to classrooms in 34 regions across the United States , encompassing a record-setting six new sites: Boston ; Dallas ; Milwaukee ; Nashville , Tenn. ; Tulsa , Okla. ; and Wilmington , Del.
School districts in new and existing Teach For America sites are eager to hire corps members, who bring new energy and leadership to the challenge of closing the academic achievement gap for students in low-income communities. On average, these students are three years behind their peers in more affluent areas by the time they are 9 years old, according to the latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (also known as the Nation’s Report Card), released last month.
Teach For America recruits on more than 450 college campuses, seeking seniors and recent graduates from all academic majors and backgrounds who have demonstrated outstanding achievement, perseverance, and leadership. Admission to the teacher corps was even more selective than in previous years, with a record 35,000 individuals applying to join. At more than 130 colleges and universities, more than 5 percent of the senior class applied, including 7 percent at Colorado College and 11 percent of all seniors at Ivy League universities. At the University of Denver , the number of applicants rose 80 percent from last year.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with four new school districts this year and to be welcoming our largest corps to date,” said Sean VanBerschot, executive director of Teach For America in Colorado . “We are also excited about the alternative certification legislation signed by the governor last week, which will allow us to bring the best possible teaching candidates to Colorado to help meet the needs of our district and school partners. Our newest teachers are ready to do whatever it takes to help all of their students succeed, and they are eager to join Colorado’s efforts to close the achievement gap.”
The large number of highly qualified candidates allowed Teach For America to increase not only the size of its 2009 corps but also its strength. Incoming corps members earned an average GPA of 3.6 and a combined SAT score of 1333, and 89 percent held leadership positions as undergraduates. Almost one-third of incoming corps members are people of color, and one-quarter received Pell Grants. Nearly 10 percent are African-Americans, which is double the percentage of African-Americans enrolled at the colleges where Teach For America primarily recruits.
“Teach For America’s corps members are having a beneficial and lasting impact in some of our most high-needs classrooms,” said Linda Childears, president and chief executive officer of the Daniels Fund. “We are pleased to welcome more of these outstanding educators into our schools this fall, and we look forward to their contributions to our efforts to promote educational equity and excellence.”
A growing body of research on Teach For America demonstrates the effectiveness of corps members in the classroom. In March, the Urban Institute released updated data from a 2008 study of the impact of Teach For America corps members teaching high school in North Carolina . The update, which employed larger sample sizes, confirmed that Teach For America teachers have a positive effect on student achievement relative to other teachers, including experienced teachers, traditionally prepared teachers, and those fully certified in their field.
Beyond their impact in the classroom, Teach For America alumni are staying in Colorado as teachers, principals, and leaders who continue to advocate for children and families in our lowest-income communities. For example, Nicole Veltzé (Bay Area Corps ’93), principal of Denver’s Skinner Middle School, is one of nine alumni who will be leading area schools this fall. Of the 14,400 Teach For America alumni across the United States , some 380 serve as school principals or superintendents, more than 500 work in government or policy, and more than 20 serve as elected officials.
About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. In the 2008-09 school year, 6,200 corps members are teaching in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment