Teach for America

Teach for America is a non-profit organization, created in 1990, that involves college graduates and professionals teaching in low-income communities for two years. Teach for America relies on their “corps members” that it recruits to carry out its mission to shut the gap of academic accomplishments between children with different socio-economic backgrounds. Corps members do not have to be a certified teacher, however, certified teachers can still apply. Corps members attend a five-week summer session that helps them to prepare for their commitment to the organization. Teach for America provides these teachers to the highest-need schools in hopes to considerably impact the students’ academic accomplishments. More than 17,000 people have joined Teach for America in the past 17 years. More than 5,000 corps members teach in over 1,000 schools in 26 different urban and rural regions, reaching approximately 440,000 students in the United States today. There have been more than three million students impacted by the organization since it started.

Teach for America was founded by Wendy Kopp in 1990. She had the idea to “eliminate educational inequity to the United States,” which was her senior thesis at Princeton University in 1989. At age 21, she raised $2.5 million for beginning funds, hired a “skeleton staff,” and started to build what has now become one of the largest providers of teachers for schools in low-income communities.

The effects of this organization are seen in education today in a big way. This organization has made a huge impact on the lives of children all over the country. By these recent college graduates giving their time, children have considerably improved their academic accomplishments. This organization has provided these children with the education that they deserve. The corps members make a short-term impact by teaching in these schools day to day, and a long-term impact by having made such a difference in the past 17 years that the organization has been running. Teach for America has most certainly been a very positive thing from all aspects since it was created.

Hyperlinks:

http://www.teachforamerica.org/index.htm

http://www.changingthepresent.org/nonprofits/show/99

http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/Press%20Releases/Past%20Releases/teach4amerrel.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teach_for_america