Penn grads to teach for America

By the time they are nine, most students in low-income communities are already three to four grade levels behind their higher-income community peers in reading ability.

But this fall, 14 Penn graduates will set out to help close this education gap by enlisting in the Teach for America program.

Teach for America is a national organization whose mission is based on the belief that underprivileged students have the potential to achieve at the same level as their more privileged peers.

Each year, the program recruits recent graduates from the nation's top colleges to teach at public schools in low income areas. New corps members commit two years to teaching in urban public schools in one of 17 locations across the United States.

"Teach for America is not a teacher shortage solution," Regional Recruitment Director Carrie Ellis said. "We are trying to solve educational inequity and to ensure that no matter where a child grows up in this country, he or she has an equal chance in life."

The 14 Penn applicants who were accepted to the program will begin teaching this August.

The new corps members have high hopes of bringing positive change to the lives of underprivileged children, but they are aware that change will be gradual and difficult to create.

"I think it's hard to go into it with a sense that you're going to change the world," College senior Emily Foote said. "I think the only thing I want to accomplish is that I influence as many lives as I can."

Admission to Teach for America is highly selective. In order to be selected, applicants must demonstrate a record of achievement in both academics and leadership.

Although good grades and leadership skills are required, teaching experience is not. In fact, only 2 percent of current corps members were education majors as undergraduates, while most had not considered teaching as a career before they applied.

"I thought about it and dismissed it, but the program just really appealed to me," Foote said. "I've never been in a classroom experience besides one-on-one tutoring, so I really don't know what it's going to be like."

For many of the program's newest members, the opportunity to enact change on society was too difficult to pass up.

"I really feel that there's a huge disparity in education and I wanted to feel like I was doing something to change that," College senior Zarin Tejani said.

Once accepted, new members are placed in various locations across the country.

"The districts where we place are all public schools in under served communities," Ellis said. "We want to ensure that we meet the needs of the districts."

Corps members receive full salary and benefits, just like any other teacher in their district. In addition, each member is granted an educational award by Teach for America, which can be used to pay off undergraduate loans or pay for graduate school.

"They are employees of the district, but trained by Teach for America," Ellis said.

At the end of their two-year commitments, corps members can opt to remain in their teaching positions.

"Forty percent of our corps members continue to teach after their two-year commitment is done, and 20 percent stay in the field of education," Ellis said.

Many new recruits are already certain that they will become part of the latter group after their two-year commitment is completed.

"I definitely want to teach even after my two years with the program," College senior Maura Raggi said.

"I'd like to get a Ph.D and eventually become a professor," College senior Jennifer McNamara said. "I want to find out for myself what makes an effective teacher and hopefully I'll make a positive impact on the school I'm placed in."

Others say they plan to pursue other fields once their term ends, but many hope to make an impact on education in other ways.

"I want to stay involved in public education in this country because I think the issue is not going to go away," said Tejani, who plans on becoming a doctor after her tenure is complete.

Teach for America has developed drastically since its inception in 1990, and officials say the program will continue to grow and improve in the future. By 2005, Teach for America aims to have close to 4,000 corps members -- more than double the current number -- teaching in 20 to 25 areas across the country.

"We'd love to see a day where no matter where a child is growing up, they have an equal chance," Ellis said.

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