It is not a secret that I am no fan of Teach for America. The very idea of the organization I find absolutely baffling. (Let’s cure educational inequality by exacerbating the inequality of placing poorly trained, inexperienced teachers in our neediest classrooms? Huh?) But TFA’s recent actions have sent me over the edge. Last night, on twitter, I was […]
Former TFA Corps Members Planning TFA Protest in Chicago
April 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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“No Excuses” and the Culture of Shame: Why Metrics Don’t Matter
February 18, 2013 By 3 Comments
“Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear someone say that ‘eliminating poverty in America is the civil rights issue of our day’? Since poverty is the single most reliable predictor of poor performance in school, poor health, poor attendance, dropping out, and almost every negative indicator, wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear some of the politicians […]
The Lowest Expectation of Them All
February 17, 2013 By 9 Comments
Corporate education reformers love to rave about how schools that “beat the odds” are full of teachers with “high expectations”. There are echoes of George W’s “soft bigotry of low expectations” in this mantra implying that in the past, teachers–stifled no doubt by those innovation-hating unions–all had “low expectations” for their students and somehow THAT is why students […]
As seen @jcrew, a #TFA T-shirt. Explain that to me, please #WTF
November 26, 2012 By 2 Comments
Inexperience: you can’t defend the indefensible
October 7, 2012 By 1 Comment
We’ve discussed it here before: the head of teacher evaluation in the state of LA is a 27-year-old former TFA alum. Now, Diane Ravitch adds that the head of teacher recruitment in Dallas, TX is a 29-year-old TFA alum who completed their obligatory two-year commitment. It should not surprise anyone that TFA alum, given their […]
Kopp’s shameless self-promotion in the guise of a Kozol book review
September 29, 2012 By 1 Comment
“Ms. Kopp’s husband, Richard Barth, was an Edison executive before taking over as CEO of KIPP’s national foundation, where he has sought to decertify its New York City unions.” — Jesse James Alred One thing I’ll concede to the corporate education reformers is their uncanny ability to use anything as a sales pitch for neoliberalism […]
New @huffingtonpost piece is up about #TFA and #wontbackdown. Thanks for the great info for this!
August 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
On #TFA as a sham organization via #education #radio
April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dave Green: "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Teach for America and Its Inadequate Version of Teacher Training"
April 7, 2012 By 2 Comments
Continuing our teach-in from last weekend’s Occupation at ED, next up is Dave Green, who does field supervision of teacher interns for Fordham U. in NYC. This is a really well-crafted presentation by someone who has seen TFA up close and personal. Please watch and learn. The KIPP chain gangs and their emulators could not […]
Interesting text on #TFA and their wild “experiments”
February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
An interesting text linked for me on Twitter. Check it out, never read it. But I do wonder if the TFA experience is not just some grand experiment, working on the kids and communities where both the “teachers” and the reform advocates don’t have any “skin” in the game, so to speak. They don’t live […]
Is #TFA a cult?
Anecdotal, but interesting, nonetheless: Just received confirmation from a former student that during training, TFA tells is Corps members not to interact with veteran teachers at the schools they are placed in and not to eat in the Faculty Cafeteria because those teachers are “jaded.” Wow.