Teach For America (TFA)

Teach for America (TFA) began as Wendy Kopp’s senior thesis at Princeton University to address the teacher gap and teacher shortages. Kopp hoped to attract the “most promising future leaders” and enlist them to work in the most disadvantaged schools. Kopp believed that by giving TFA an aura and status top graduates would be interested in joining the organization. According to Kopp, the added prestige for TFA would “counteract teaching’s image as a ‘soft’ and downwardly mobile career”. Under this premise, Teach for America would begin operating as a 501(c)(3) in 1989.
Teach for America corps members are expected to be motivated, committed, and accomplished individuals who create growth for students through their ingenuity and compassion. In fact, TFA relies heavily on the innovativeness of their corps members as their key solution. This focus has created a highly personal and demanding process in the program.

Upon the completion of an interview process and a summer training session corps members are required to get teaching certification in the state they are placed in. Corp members are then placed in areas of highest need to teach the nation’s most disadvantaged students. While corps members are teaching, they are evaluated by their principals, fellow teachers, and TFA directors. The program is designed to last 2 years. Afterwards, corps members may continue teaching or transition into a new career. Regardless of what they decide to do, the TFA model states that “teaching children in urban and rural schools is a foundational experience for a lifetime of impact in expanding educational equity and