Fueling Long-Term Impact
Fueling Long-Term Impact
A growing movement of leaders, now 33,000 strong, works at every level of education, policy and other professions, to ensure that all children can receive an excellent education.
"We are Teach For America."
Meet some of the 11,000 alumni, corps members and supporters who met to mark Teach For America's 20th Anniversary.
"Who makes these laws?"
State Senator Michael Johnston (Mississippi Delta '97) describes his path from teaching to leading the effort to pass statewide education reform in Colorado.
Ivette Rodriguez
Phoenix '02
"It’s empowering to know that so many Teach For America alumni are working towards the same thing in so many different ways."
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Sarah Usdin
South Louisiana '92
"The progress we've been able to see in New Orleans is dramatic."
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Ivette Rodriguez
Phoenix corps 2002
Taught at: John R. Davis School
Undergrad: University of Texas at Austin, 2001, Government
Current employer: Principal Roosevelt School District #66
"I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of the Teach For America community."
Q&A
Describe the leadership skills you developed in the corps and how you apply them in your work now.
My background as a corps member has given me the instructional analysis tools that I need to enter a classroom and determine what the next steps should be in order to push student achievement forward the most.
What additional impact do you think you were able to have because you shared the same background as your students?
Closing the achievement gap – even for a small group of students – is a huge job, one that can't be done without building strong relationships. While I think that relationships can definitely be built despite cultural differences, I do think that sharing a culture and a language is incredibly helpful when trying to invest students and families.
Describe what it's like to be part of the Teach For America community.
I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of this community. TFA attracts such a diverse group of people in terms of skill set and background that I'm always humbled by what my colleagues are accomplishing. I also am confident that should I ever need anything - I can find someone within the TFA network that can help me with it.
Sarah Usdin
South Louisiana 1992
Taught at: Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy (Baltimore, MD)
Undergrad: Colgate University, 1991, BA in Religion and German
Currently works: Founder and CEO New Schools for New Orleans
Graduate: 1995 Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University
"We really can create this notion of performance driven schools and that it is no longer morally acceptable to allow schools that fail children to continue to operate."
Q&A
What kind of education progress has there been in New Orleans?
The progress that we’ve been able to see in the education reform movement in New Orleans is dramatic. Prior to Katrina, many would have said that we were the worst school district in the nation. In 2005 only 32% were serving kids above the failure level. In the years since, we have reduced by 45% the number of academically failed schools in this city. We have been able to take the high school senior graduation rate to over 90%.
Why is now the right time to work in education in New Orleans?
I feel like the chance for history in New Orleans right now is that we are primed to show what a city can do. It is a phenomenal opportunity for us to demonstrate that poor urban America really can educate every child to the highest levels.
We really can create this notion of performance driven schools, and that it is no longer morally acceptable to allow schools that fail children to continue to operate. There are ways despite entrenched interests, and despite the status quo, to really force change that’s in the interest of students.
We really can create this notion of performance driven schools, and that it is no longer morally acceptable to allow schools that fail children to continue to operate. There are ways despite entrenched interests, and despite the status quo, to really force change that’s in the interest of students.
Teach For America was named one of Fortune magazine's top 100 employers to work for.
Teach For America was named one of America's top 100 Ideal Employers in Universum's 2011 American Student Survey.