Waiting in Line to Stand and Deliver

Gentry High School in Indianola, Miss. is not a safety school for Eleanor G. Brennan ’02-’03. If she’s lucky, she’ll end up teaching there or another public high school in the Mississippi Delta, New Orleans or New Mexico, among other places, through Teach For America (TFA), a non-profit organization that places recent grads in teaching positions in some of the country’s most underachieving, understaffed schools. Last year, TFA saw its applicant pool triple from the usual 5,000 to a whopping 14,000, all vying for only 2,000 positions. The sudden increase is in part attributable to the bad economy and rough job market. But TFA teacher Ajarae D. Johnson ’02 believes that the boom relates to the events surrounding 9/11: “People want to do something meaningful with their lives, and to give back [to the community].”

Another participant, Avik Chatterjee ’02 points to TFA’s increasing media profile. “Teach For America has recently gained a lot of press [attention],” he notes. The organization has seen increased involvement by celebrities like Peter Jennings and First Lady Laura Bush, who participated in teaching for a week. And the organization will be the primary beneficiary of a PGA tour event. With this growing prominence and the increasingly choosy selection process, TFA now offers something that is familiar to Harvard students: a competition for a spot in a prominent and prestigious institution.

In fact, getting a teaching job without going through Teach For America is not too difficult. Regarding the increase in applications to—and rejections from—TFA, Robert F. Colvin ’02, who applied to TFA last spring, says, “I don’t think it makes very much sense, because a lot of schools in this country desperately need teachers. You can get a teaching job very easily.” Even without a teaching certificate, students can still find assignments in private schools. Colvin notes that many who have not followed the Teach For America track “have gotten teaching jobs in places that they want to teach.”

Of course, the program does offer unique benefits. In general, it’s a convenient and hassle-free method of acquiring a teaching position. TFA also prides itself on its training process, which includes six weeks of courses, and a stint teaching summer school in the Bronx. Johnson, who now teaches sixth-grade Social Studies in Compton, Calif., notes TFA’s ongoing support through alumni meetings. The training and alumni network are all attractive benefits, but the program’s vision is its most attractive feature. Chatterjee, who teaches high school chemistry in Newark, N.J., explains, “Teach For America has a very unique vision and mission statement, so when you’re joining up, you’re sort of becoming a part of that whole mission, that one day all kids will have the same opportunity to get an excellent education.” Teach For America has taken on the imprimatur of a domestic Peace Corps, representing the most prestigious and effective opportunity for public service in education.

All this translates to an extremely selective hiring process. Brennan, a candidate this year, says, “It’s like applying to college again.” And Teach For America is certainly not a safety option. Brennan says the application process is so involved that “it’s a waste of time to have it as a backup.” The application requires a recommendation letter, two essays, a résumé and transcript. If accepted for the next round, candidates participate in an interview that lasts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first half of the day includes a one-hour 10-minute mock teaching session, a 20-minute roundtable session to discuss four education-related articles (sent prior to the interview date), a 45-minute Q&A about the program, and a 40-minute writing exercise for strategizing solutions to possible classroom predicaments. Candidates then sign up for a 25-40 minute slot for a personal interview, to take place during the second half of the day.

And although those accepted have an average GPA of 3.5, the interview process is not so much cerebral as it is a test of one’s ability to be creative, engaging to an audience and in control. Johnson explains, “They’re really looking for people who believe and are optimistic that all children can achieve.” So although TFA does recruit for math- or science-related concentrations, that ultimately has no bearing on who they actually hire.

They do, however, consider a person’s background, preferring that it reflect the ethnic and cultural background of the students they would potentially be teaching. Those accepted are usually assigned to one of their top choices, ranked out of 18 possible locations, either in the inner-city (including Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York City) or in a rural location (including New Mexico/Navajo Nation, Mississippi Delta, and South Louisiana).

Depending on the assigned location, grade level, and subject, the TFA experience can vary greatly. But every position is mentally and emotionally taxing. Johnson explains, “It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially with the students that I have now that are just integrated from Mexico, because bilingual education is outlawed in California.” And Chatterjee, who teaches general science and chemistry to high school freshmen and juniors, says, “It is very taxing in a lot of ways. It’s a lot more work than I expected, mainly because I teach three classes and have over 100 students.” (Most TFA participants teach to middle- and elementary-school classes of 20 to 40 students.) With these challenges, though, comes the reward of surprise. For Johnson, that was the realization that “the teachers at my school are a lot more amazing and dedicated than I expected. You’d think an under-resourced school would have less people who care, but it’s not true at all.”

The Department of Education’s recent $4.75 million contribution to Teach For America’s expansion efforts should make more of these coveted positions available in the future. Although it may be relatively easy to acquire a teaching job on one’s own, Teach For America puts together a package that advertises selectivity, quality and extreme emotional and mental duress. There’s some evidence that Harvard students like that sort of thing.