Teach for America Announces Record Number of Teachers for 2008
Source: Teach for America

each For America today announced that it will place more than 3,700 new teachers this fall in low-income communities across the country, the largest incoming corps in the organization’s 18-year history by nearly 30 percent. The 2008 corps was selected from a record 24,718 applicants, many of whom graduated from America’s most selective universities. Teach For America corps members commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity.

In low-income communities nationwide—where 9-year-olds are, on average, three grade levels behind, and only one in 10 students will graduate from college—public schools urgently need enterprising teachers and leaders committed to giving all students the education they deserve. Teach For America recruits on more than 400 college campuses, seeking applicants from all academic majors, career interests, and backgrounds who demonstrate a record of outstanding achievement, persistence in the face of challenges, and a strong focus on achieving results.
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While demand for Teach For America at college campuses is at record levels, a national survey shows that interest in public school teaching among college students has declined significantly in recent years. As reported in the 2008 Panetta Institute survey, “the percentage of students interested in teaching in a public school…has declined from previous Panetta surveys – from 45 percent in 2006, to 36 percent in 2007, to just 31 percent this year.” For the complete survey, go to http://www.panettainstitute.org/surveys/index.htm.

Teach For America attracted a significant percentage of graduates from the nation’s top universities. At more than 90 colleges and universities, more than 5 percent of the senior class applied, including 16 percent at Spelman College, 11 percent at Morehouse College and Yale University, 10 percent at Georgetown University, 9 percent at Harvard University, and 7 percent at the University of Michigan.

See also: Despite Little Experience, Teach for America Educators Outpace Veterans in Drawing Achievement from Students (Urban Institute)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Careers, Education, Nonprofits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.