Most Teach For America Instructors Plan to Flee Teaching

[Purveyor]

About 87 percent of the people the program trains as educators say they plan to leave teaching

by Akane Otani
11:30 AM EDT March 9, 2015

Teach for America, the mammoth nonprofit that grooms thousands of bright young college graduates to be teachers every year, is divisive. Advocates say TFA is on the front lines of fighting educational inequity; critics charge it’s little more than a two-year pit stop for Ivy League graduates eyeing careers outside of education.

A new study from a nonpartisan research organization adds ammunition to skeptics’ claims. More than 87 percent of TFA teachers say they don’t plan on remaining teachers throughout their careers, compared with 26.3 percent of non-TFA teachers working in the same subjects, grades, and schools, according to an analysis released last week by Mathematica Policy Research (PDF).

The study suggests the risk of turnover is relatively high for the recent grads that become teachers through TFA's program. A full 25 percent of them said they would quit teaching after the current school year, compared with only 6.7 percent of non-TFA teachers. And of those who plan to quit, 42.9 percent of TFA teachers anticipated leaving education altogether, compared with 6.7 percent of non-TFA teachers.

The numbers point to attrition issues that, while perhaps endemic to the teaching profession as a whole, seem to be hitting TFA teachers --who are more likely than other teachers to be young, white, male, and educated at an elite college -- particularly hard.

“We do encourage our corps members to pursue leadership in whatever way feels most impactful for them. That said, we are seeking ways to continue to get better and provide more options for those who want to stay in the classroom,” says Takirra Winfield, vice president of national communications for TFA.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-09/most-teach-for-america-instructors-plan-to-flee-teaching

[MADem]

1. Well, hopefully the ones that stay are good at it... that said, TFA could do a few things to fix

their numbers. First, they should look at extending their obligated service from two years to three or even four--that will weed out a some of the dilettantes, right off. People who join up will at least believe they have an affinity for teaching.

Second, they should cast their net further and wider and find teachers who don't fit their white/male/elite paradigm.

[Igel]

2. Confound it.

Literally, in some cases.

In this sample, the TFA teachers were predominantly female. And instead of "elite" the word used was "selective." There's a difference.

The turnover "risk" is based on a confound. Their TFA group was young, inexperienced, and alternatively-certified. Their comparison "control" group was randomly chosen from all the teachers at the same schools, on average had 13.6 years of experience and 85% had "traditional" certifications.

It's well known that the wash-out rate for ACP programs is much higher than for traditional certification programs, and that the wash-out rate for teachers is highest in the first few years. The point is that the researchers didn't give a rat's ass about this because it's so well known and that's not the point of their study. It's accounted for, and if it's a problem it's because the high TFA wash-out rate makes for a reduced ROI on the investment in TFA.

Their major finding is succinctly put:

"On average, the TFA teachers in our sample were as effective as comparison teachers in
both reading and math. In both subjects, differences in test scores between students assigned to
TFA teachers and those assigned to comparison teachers were not statistically significant.

"We found that TFA teachers in lower elementary grades (prekindergarten through grade 2) had a positive, statistically significant effect on student reading achievement of 0.12 standard deviations, or about 1.3 additional months of learning for the average student in these grades
nationwide. However, for both math and reading, we did not find statistically significant differences in either direction for other grade levels or for TFA teachers compared with either novice or traditionally certified teachers." (http://mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/pdfs/education/tfa_investing_innovation.pdf, p. xvi)

Not what I would have predicted, but this is for elementary school where EC programs are typically in place and tend to level the playing field, so what do I know?

[Jefferson23]

4. Why would the US Dept Of Ed keep funding the same group to promote their TFA?

They are a consistent repeat customer for which they receive millions.

I wonder how one can honestly reconcile the differences in reviews.

[Teamster Jeff]

3. They need to screen their scabs better.

Or all these new charter schools are going to have to pay real teachers real money and that's not the plan.