Many schools around the country are failing to live up to academic expectations. Some are finding that the training of the teacher makes the difference in the quality of the education their students receive. Enter Teach for America – the education industry's equivalent of "boot camp" for aspiring teachers, providing the training and experience they need to succeed in even the most challenging academic environments. But is Teach for America really the knight on the white horse or a way to take the community out of the education process? This article will take a look at the pros and cons of this teacher training program.
This video explains the admissions process for Teach America.
What is Teach for America?
Teach for America started as an undergraduate thesis for Wendy Kopp during her studies at Princeton University. According to the organization's website, Kopp believed numerous college students would be willing to assume teaching positions over more lucrative careers if the proper training corps was in place to prepare them. During its inception year in 1990, Teach for America trained 500 men and women to teach in six low-income communities around the United States. Today, that number has grown to 28,000, making Teach for America the largest provider of teachers to low-income areas.
The approach taken by Teach for America is to train up a corps of teachers from over-achieving college students,