Popular program sparks debate

Teach for America placed about 1,600 recent college graduates in schools in low-income communities last year. Of these, almost none have teaching certificates.

TFA received 93 applications from Penn students this year and lists the University as one of the top 25 schools from which it receives applicants. The program allows recruits to teach for two years while working toward certification.

But a study released last week by a Stanford professor did not put TFA recruits in a good light.

Linda Darling-Hammond -- a professor who studied the test scores of the students of 4,000 teachers between 1995 and 2002 -- concluded that students of certified teachers consistently out-perform students taught by uncertified teachers, which would include TFA recruits.

However, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., released a study last year that found that TFA recruits generated higher math scores and similar reading scores when compared to all other teachers in the same schools, including other uncertified teachers and veteran teachers. The study examined data from the 2002-2003 academic year.

"Just using test scores as the basis for comparison, they're performing at least as well as the other teachers in the same schools," said Paul Decker, the project director for the Mathematica study.

Darling-Hammond could not be reached for comment.

The seemingly contradictory results have elicited a strong response from all parties involved with the TFA organization.

"Certification in and of itself is a piece of paper," said Abigail Smith, vice president of research and policy at TFA. "What we're concerned about is not whether you have that piece of paper, but whether you develop the skills and knowledge that you need to be an effective teacher."

Joshua Brown, a 2004 College graduate and a TFA third-grade teacher in Baton Rouge, La., said that he also found Darling-Hammond's conclusions "less reliable than [Decker's ] because of the rigor of the research." He said that because the Mathematica study covered six regions and Darling-Hammond's only focused on Houston, he found Mathematica's data more convincing.

"I'm sure my students haven't been ill-served because I'm working on my certification instead of already having it," he said.

College senior Katherine Aguero, a TFA recruit set to teach in New York next year, said that although "test scores are commonly used as a standardized way to measure success," teachers' impact on their students can be measured in other ways as well.

"Motivating a student to enjoy learning is not directly measured ... but can have a positive impact on the child," she said.

Halerie Mahan, a senior in the College who will be teaching English at a New Jersey middle school in the fall, echoed Aguero's sentiments.

She's hoping to make her students "feel like learning is something positive and not just ... a hassle."

Mahan said that her lack of certification might be "a little problematic at first," since she doesn't personally have any teaching experience, but she said she is not worried because she will gain the needed experience during the five-week intensive training session, which all TFA recruits must attend.

Smith said that everything from instructional planning and delivery to communicating with parents is discussed in the summer course, which all recruits complete "under the guidance of veteran teachers."

Smith said that it could be years of teaching experience -- and not the certification itself -- that enables teachers to make positive, lasting impacts.

But she added that "common sense will tell you ... that teacher effectiveness is not linearly related to teacher experience," noting her belief that TFA recruits can be successful teachers, regardless of their initial lack of certification.

Darling-Hammond's study also raised questions about the possible long-term impact made by TFA teachers, since the researchers found that virtually all TFA recruits left teaching by their third year, just as they were starting to become more effective. This, she said in the study, can prove very costly to school districts.

Brown, Mahan and Aguero all said that they are not sure if they will continue in the TFA program after their two-year commitment.

Although Brown said that he will probably leave to attend graduate school within the next few years, he has an "extremely high regard" for the program.

"You can invest some time in teaching even if you have other career plans or other ambitions," he said. "You can still make a contribution to education."

Mahan, who does not think she's going to be a teacher in the long run, said that teaching low-income students "takes a lot of energy and ... you have to have a lot of enthusiasm. That's why a two-year stint is really good."

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