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Wendy Kopp welcomes 600 new teachers to Delta Training Institute

By June 16, 2010General

Teach For America Founder and CEO Wendy Kopp last night welcomed more than 600 new Teach For America teachers who are embarking on an intensive training program that will prepare them to enter classrooms this fall. The teachers, also known as corps members, are the charter class at the first Teach For America training institute in a rural location. Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Phoenix are the other Teach For America institute locations.

 

At the Delta institute, corps members will work under the close supervision of veteran educators and Teach For America staff to measurably increase the academic performance of students in summer school classrooms in 14 local school districts while living and attending courses at Delta State University. Some 275 of these new teachers will stay in the Delta region of Arkansas and Mississippi this fall to teach approximately 22,000 students in the area’s highest-need public schools. These local teachers are among more than 4,500 new Teach For America corps members nationwide, the largest incoming corps in the organization’s 20-year history. They were chosen through a highly selective process that attracted a record 46,000 applicants.
 
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America teachers. A new study from the University of North Carolina compares the effects on student achievement of graduates from the UNC teacher-preparation system with teachers from other pathways, including Teach For America. At every grade level and subject studied, students taught by Teach For America corps members did as well as or better than those taught by traditionally prepared UNC graduates. Middle school math students of Teach For America teachers received the equivalent of an extra half-year of learning.
 
Teach For America’s track record of achieving results for students has earned the organization support from a wide range of political and community leaders across the Delta.
 
“Teach For America gives young adults a chance to enrich the lives of children in the Mississippi Delta,” said U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. “I appreciate the investment this program makes in Mississippi by training and deploying educators who are committed to improving educational opportunities for many children.  Teach For America enables more rural schools to help students learn subjects like advanced math and science that they might not otherwise have had.”
 
“This is wonderful news not only for the Mississippi Delta, but also for the entire state.  Teach for America brings talented and caring members to Mississippi who make a difference in children’s lives every day,” said United States Senator Roger Wicker.  “I welcome them to Mississippi, and am thankful for their service.”
 
The new corps members in the Delta will join more than 100 Teach For America alumni in the region who are working from within education and every other professional sector to expand opportunities for students and families in low-income communities. Of the 20,000-plus Teach For America alumni nationwide, two-thirds remain in education, including 450 who are school principals or superintendents.  
 
About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. This fall, more than 8,200 corps members will be teaching in 39 regions across the country, while more than 20,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.