Teach For America Research Paper

Freedom Summer was a nonviolent effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system during 1964. It raised the consciousness of millions of people to the troubles of African-Americans and the need for change. Americans all around the country were shocked by the killing of civil rights workers and the brutality they witnessed on their televisions. For nearly a century, segregation had prevented most African-Americans in Mississippi from voting or holding public office. Segregated housing, schools, workplaces, and public accommodations denied black Mississippians access to political or economic power.

In the Summer of 1964, the Mississippi Summer Project, also known as Freedom Summer, was organized by several Civil Rights organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee and the Congress on Racial Equality. The event that caused the start of Freedom Summer were that many African-Americans were not registered to vote, this was because the southern states had implemented literacy tests that were unfair and could be interpreted differently, and Poll Taxes which were ridiculous amounts to pay ("Freedom Summer"). Other causes include the case of Plessy Vs. Ferguson, which stated the “Separate but Equal” clause, and also Racial segregation. Freedom Summer Volunteers included White Northerners, and the organization was made to focus on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, Voter Registration, Freedom Schools, and Community Centers (“Timeline: Freedom Summer”). There was a need for the Freedom Summer because Many African-American People in the south were being oppressed by Literacy Tests and Poll Taxes.

June 21, 1964, the Freedom of Summer! Civil rights organization included the Congress on Racial Equality and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which a voter signing up to drive, or Freedom Summer, Aimed to increase voters in Mississippi. Freedom Summer has most of black Mississippians and over one-thousand out of state white volunteers face abuse and harassment from Mississippi's white population. The Ku Klux Klan police did a series of violent attacks towards them. About a hundred white college students had help cofo register voters on November 1963, and several hundred students more had been invited to expand the voters project in the Freedom Summer.

American Federation of Teachers, also known as AFT was founded in 1916 and today represents 1.6 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, founded in Chicago by President Samuel Gompers. (“About”) The AFT also represents 80,000 early childhood educators and about 250,000 retiree members. (“About”) AFT targets to help students, families, and communities to target fairness, democracy, economic opportunity, high-quality public education, healthcare and public services. (“Mission”) The organization and members advance these principles through engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism. (“Mission”) The AFT addresses multiple issues that they believe has an importance to the union and our country,

According to the article, What Makes a Great Teacher?, a student's education solely depends on the teacher alone and how he or she performs in the classroom. In this case, I am in favor of having the program, Teach for America, ensuring a good and ever-changing education for those students in need.

The article starts out by mentioning that throughout the city of New Orleans you will find that Teach for America alumni hold high job positions in Louisianan’s educational system. Examples of a few of these positions include the superintendent of the Recovery District and a state school board members. It goes on to explain that the people of New Orleans are asking controversial questions about Teach for America that the organization has been dealing with since it was founded. Some of these questions are: do its recruits continue working as teachers after their two year commitment ends? Are their members prepared enough to handle inner city children and the unique challenges they face? And what makes Teach for America recruits with no educational training or experience, good enough for the

While my dedication to teaching at some capacity has been a lifelong passion, I would like to explain why I want to join Teach for America by starting at the beginning of my own academic journey:

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

Collaboration between teachers is a key component to professional development that will lead to higher student achievement. There is a need for schools to set up time for teachers to be able to collaborate together. This allows for teachers to help each other, matchup content, teach each other new and best practices, troubleshoot student issues just to name a few of the areas that collaboration time can help foster within a school. The key is to build time for teachers to be able to collaborate during the school day or week. This collaboration time needs to be between grade levels, departments, and cross curricular when needed. For many schools this is an afterthought to the school schedule or a fleeting thought after the master schedule is completed. A principal needs to keep an open mind to any strategy that will enable the teachers to be able to collaborate for the good of the students and the school.

The toughest obstacle to overcome when forming this organization, for it’s founder Kopp, was overcoming belief and proving people that “ teachers, just like doctors and lawyers, needs to be trained in campus-based graduate culture and programs before entering the classroom.” In 1994 the institute moved to Houston, where Teach for America has stayed ever since. At this point, Teach For America has offices supporting teachers and alumni in 39 geographic regions in 31 states and Washington, D.C. Each region has an executive director and program staff, and most also have development staff and local advisory boards. In 2001, it secured more then $20 million and named one of the five organizations Lady Laura Bush.

There is a constant argument between fellow students of mine on whether or not General Education courses benefit student’s majors. General Education courses are basic classes such as, English, Science, Mathematics and are required by most universities. Many students look at the years of college they’ll have to endure and many realize that most of their years will be focused on General Education courses and less on classes for their intended major.

During my second preclinical experience at Westview Hills Middle School, I learned the importance of cooperation and collaboration among teachers at a school. I was able to observe team and department meetings during this experience. It became clear that it is important for teachers to work together in order to provide a positive atmosphere at a school and in a specific department. Although it became obvious that personalities and teaching styles were different throughout the school, the teachers still acted professionally and used each other as resources in

“Research by Amy Edmonson at the Harvard Business School finds that organizations often thrive, or fail, based on their ability to work as teams to learn, improve, and innovate.” (Poulos, Culberston, Piazza, and D’entremont, 2014). The popular saying of teamwork, makes the dreamwork, comes to mind when thinking of the importance of collaboration amongst fellow teachers. In my short experience teaching, I have found both of the above statements to be true. I can honeslty say, if it had not been for certain coworkers who allowed me to bounce ideas off of them or who took me under their wing and taught me how to complete a particular task, then I would be the successful teacher I am today. Collaboration is vital because it allows the educators

Teachers, because of the nature of education, spend most of their professional lives interacting with their pupils instead of their own peers. This unfortunately creates a situation where educators more often than not can become isolated from the ideas and expertise of other teachers. So many hours with students can make a teacher forget that there is a whole community of other educators out there who experience the same problems, and who have unique ideas and solutions to those problems. Choosing to pursue a career as an educator is not an easy choice to make when there are so many elements that make the occupation a difficult one. Professional organizations, such as AFT and NCTE, can bridge this gap of these difficulties and make life easier

“Teamwork fuels group spirit, develops process skills that help teachers interact in more productive ways, and fosters a more intellectual atmosphere.” (Maeroff, 1993).