TFA recruits highly educated candidates and place them in a classroom while coaching and training them throughout the course of their time with students. The biggest change is that most universities approach teacher preparation with a gradual approach to class practice. Typically education students do not have a full day experience in a classroom until their last year of their education program. In contrast,  TFA almost immediately places their candidates in the classroom all the while training and coaching them using their personalized teaching as leadership ideologies and practices.  

Since its start  in 1990, TFA has placed over 50,000 teachers in urban and rural school districts that have had difficulty recruiting staff (“Teach for America,” 2016). After almost 30 years, a study of impact and teacher effectiveness would be helpful for district leaders to know and understand how TFA corps members can impact both long term and short term student outcomes.

1.     What are the key components of TFA corps member training and how does it prepare first year teachers for high needs classrooms?

2.     How do student outcomes from a TFA classroom compare to a non-TFA classroom?

3.     How does TFA corps members’ job satisfaction, retention and student outcomes compare to other first year teachers with traditional education certification?