Teach For America returns to Detroit: Partnerships and policy work pays off
| By Mike Tenbusch - May 4, 2010 12:13:25 PM ET |
For more than two years, United Way has worked to build partnerships, secure alternative teacher certification, as well as funding and placements needed to bring Teach for America back to Detroit. Today, that vision became reality as Teach for America announced its return to Detroit, bringing top college graduates to teach in some of the state’s highest-need schools for the 2010-2011 school year.
Teach for America’s return to the region signals to the nation that Detroit is a vibrant center for real educational reform and a region that draws the best and the brightest to it, not sends them away. Since its start, facilitating the return of Teach for America has been a top priority of United Way’s Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund.
The enactment of Public Act 202 of 2009, allowing alternative paths to teacher certification, was a critical component needed for Teach For America to return to Detroit. United Way and volunteers lobbied Michigan’s legislature and worked with Governor Granholm and the bill’s sponsors and supporters for more than a year to pass the bill and pave the way for TFA’s return.
Teach For America is the national corps of top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. Teach For America’s Detroit corps members will be part of a national incoming corps selected from an applicant pool of more than 46,000. Among these applicants were 12 percent of all Ivy League seniors and more than 1,300 individuals from across Michigan, including 7 percent of the senior class at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, 3 percent of seniors at Michigan State and 20 percent of seniors at Kalamazoo College. The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor was the top producer of Teach For America corps members in 2009.
“We’re excited to return to Detroit and join the innovative efforts of leaders across the city to expand educational opportunity for all children,” said Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America. “We are inspired by the leadership of Governor Granholm, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and the Skillman Foundation, and are tremendously grateful for the support from school leaders, community groups, and local philanthropists in Detroit. This commitment will enable us to develop a strong pipeline of dedicated teachers and education leaders for the city.”
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that Teach For America corps members are highly effective in the classroom. An Urban Institute study published in 2008 and updated this year found that high school students taught by Teach For America teachers outperformed their peers, even those taught by fully certified teachers. The updated study is available at www.caldercenter.org/upload/TFA_final_v-March-2009.pdf.
Teach For America’s network currently includes more than 7,300 corps members in 35 regions and some 17,000 alumni across the country working from every professional sector to level the playing field for children and families in low-income communities. Detroit is home to some 215 Teach For America alumni. Nationally, about two-thirds of Teach For America alumni remain in education, where they are starting schools, serving as principals and district administrators, and winning accolades in the classroom, including 2007 teacher of the year awards in two states and the 2005 National Teacher of the Year Award.
Teach for America’s return to the region signals to the nation that Detroit is a vibrant center for real educational reform and a region that draws the best and the brightest to it, not sends them away. Since its start, facilitating the return of Teach for America has been a top priority of United Way’s Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund.
The enactment of Public Act 202 of 2009, allowing alternative paths to teacher certification, was a critical component needed for Teach For America to return to Detroit. United Way and volunteers lobbied Michigan’s legislature and worked with Governor Granholm and the bill’s sponsors and supporters for more than a year to pass the bill and pave the way for TFA’s return.
Teach For America is the national corps of top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. Teach For America’s Detroit corps members will be part of a national incoming corps selected from an applicant pool of more than 46,000. Among these applicants were 12 percent of all Ivy League seniors and more than 1,300 individuals from across Michigan, including 7 percent of the senior class at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, 3 percent of seniors at Michigan State and 20 percent of seniors at Kalamazoo College. The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor was the top producer of Teach For America corps members in 2009.
“We’re excited to return to Detroit and join the innovative efforts of leaders across the city to expand educational opportunity for all children,” said Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America. “We are inspired by the leadership of Governor Granholm, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and the Skillman Foundation, and are tremendously grateful for the support from school leaders, community groups, and local philanthropists in Detroit. This commitment will enable us to develop a strong pipeline of dedicated teachers and education leaders for the city.”
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that Teach For America corps members are highly effective in the classroom. An Urban Institute study published in 2008 and updated this year found that high school students taught by Teach For America teachers outperformed their peers, even those taught by fully certified teachers. The updated study is available at www.caldercenter.org/upload/TFA_final_v-March-2009.pdf.
Teach For America’s network currently includes more than 7,300 corps members in 35 regions and some 17,000 alumni across the country working from every professional sector to level the playing field for children and families in low-income communities. Detroit is home to some 215 Teach For America alumni. Nationally, about two-thirds of Teach For America alumni remain in education, where they are starting schools, serving as principals and district administrators, and winning accolades in the classroom, including 2007 teacher of the year awards in two states and the 2005 National Teacher of the Year Award.
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