Correction: A previous version of this story misinterpreted the audit's expansion recommendations and performance findings.
Dive Brief:
- In Georgia, a new state audit found a higher turnover rate for Teach for America teachers than those with education degrees: Only 40% of metro Atlanta Teach for America teachers stayed beyond their initial two-year commitment, as opposed to 80% of other teachers in low-income schools.
- Despite high turnover, the audit found that students taught by Teach for America educators performed equally to or better than those taught by teachers trained in traditional programs.
- Teach for America only has half as many members in Atlanta schools as it did in 2012 due to financial constraints, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which also reported that the organization doesn't plan to expand beyond its current reach in the Atlanta metro area despite the audit's suggestion that other Georgia schools could potentially benefit from its teachers.
Dive Insight:
The downward turn in Teach for America's numbers in Atlanta mirrors a national trend. For at least two years, the organization has struggled with recruitment and a low volume of applicants. The organization has also battled controversy, ranging from accusations of a lack of diversity and a lack of training to “being too closely affiliated with large private donors and high-profile alumni who went on to the political arena.”
TFA has countered some of the criticism, for example, by stepping up training. Yet the controversy continues, in highly public and polarizing ways.
Regarding teacher shortages, different states have tackled the problem in unique ways. In Colorado, TFA grads have been used to fill gaps. But the opposite is also true, as seen with North Carolina’s Durham school board's vote not to renew TFA contracts based on the opinion that they're “unprepared” and “inexperienced.”
