With each school year comes a new crop of college seniors and with them come endless job searches and graduate school applications. Nationwide, more and more students have been opting for post-graduation volunteer programs, such as Teach for America. The organization seeks to eradicate educational inequity between high- and low-income schools by recruiting high-achieving college graduates of all academic disciplines to teach in urban and rural public schools.
This past year, more than 17,000 recent graduates competed for approximately 2,000 corps member positions; the growth in the applicant pool from 5,000 to 17,000 over the past four years has made selection more competitive.
This year, Teach for America accepted 8 of the 21 applicants from the Class of 2005, placing Scripps 14th out of the 200 most heavily recruited schools.
The recent graduates are placed in 22 regions across the nation to work in underfunded and underserved school districts. The two-year assignment enables the Teach for America volunteers to teach students in areas where there is a severe shortage of teachers.
Applicants are selected based not only on academic achievement, but also on individual characteristics such as perseverance and exceptional leadership qualities. Alumni of the program continue to be leaders dedicated to creating educational opportunity as principals, district administrators, award-winning teachers, and others pursue careers in law, public policy, medicine, and business.
Volunteers receive intensive training through the summer institute program, where they complete courses that emphasize practical methods, such as a goal-oriented, planning intensive approach to teaching. The second week of the institute, a group of two or three corps members takes on full responsibility for a summer school class. They provide classroom instruction, create lesson plans according to curriculum standards, evaluate students, and communicate with students and their families. Corps members continue courses in the afternoons and evenings and also attend evening workshops given by institute faculty, corps alumni, and successful educators. Their progress in coursework and in the classroom is evaluated by experienced institute faculty members, to provide feedback and ensure achievement of Teach for America’s high standards. This rigorous training prepares corps members to succeed in providing a dynamic and supportive academic environment for underprivileged students.