Teach For America Expands to Hawaii, Recruiting Top College Graduates to Teach in the State's High-Need Public Schools
Posted on: Tuesday, 6 June 2006, 15:00 CDT
HONOLULU, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with the Hawaii Department of Education, Teach For America announced today its expansion to Hawaii with plans to bring up to 55 teachers a year to the state's high-need public schools.
Teach For America is the national corps of top college graduates who commit two years to teach in under-resourced public schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity. In its 16-year history, Teach For America has recruited and trained more than 14,000 teachers, impacting more than 2 million students. In addition to Hawaii, Teach For America currently places corps members in 23 urban and rural regions across the country.
The expansion is part of Teach For America's ambitious growth plan, which calls for the organization to expand from its current 3,500 corps members to 7,500 across more than 30 sites by 2010.
"The education, philanthropic, and business communities in Hawaii have made improving their public schools a priority," said Diane Robinson, executive director of Teach For America -- Hawaii. "We are excited about being part of the solution to close the achievement gap in Hawaii's public schools.""The kinds of high-expectations people who are attracted to Teach For America are precisely the kind of teachers we need in Hawaii. I also view the alumni of Teach For America as a pipeline for leadership inside and outside of education in Hawaii," said Mitch D'Olier, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation.
"Partnering with Teach For America is an important step to ensure that students from economically disadvantaged communities have the educational opportunities they deserve," said Patricia Hamamoto, superintendent of the Hawaii Department of Education. "The commitment, enthusiasm, and leadership qualities that Teach For America corps members bring to the classroom will be a great benefit for our students. They represent the role models that 'connect' with the generation of tomorrow, our future."
Teach For America selects its corps from outstanding college graduates in all majors. 2005 corps members earned an average GPA of 3.5, and 95 percent held leadership positions in their school or community. Before attending an intensive five-week Summer Training Institute in Houston, the Hawaii corps members will attend a weeklong Induction here in Hawaii during the week of June 6th, 2006. After Houston, they will return to Hawaii for an orientation with Teach For America's local staff and then begin teaching in high-need schools in Leeward Districts. In addition to this intensive initial training, Hawaii corps members will also receive ongoing professional development from Teach For America and attend classes at the University of Hawaii to earn their teacher certification and a Master's degree.
A recent independent study conducted by Mathematica Policy Research found that students of Teach For America corps members produced greater gains than would typically be expected in both math and reading. In math, corps members' students on average make 10 percent more progress in a year than is typically expected. A survey released by Kane, Parsons & Associates found that principals report overwhelmingly that Teach For America teachers are well prepared and have a significant and positive impact on their schools and on student achievement.
Teach For America's other placement sites are Atlanta, Baltimore, Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Eastern North Carolina, Greater New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami-Dade, Mississippi Delta, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Rio Grande Valley, South Dakota, South Louisiana, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.
About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Currently, 3,500 corps members are teaching in over 1,000 schools in 22 regions across the country; more than 10,000 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 http://www.teachforamerica.org/.
Teach For America
CONTACT: Todd McGovern, Teach For America, +1-212-279-2080 x124,todd.mcgovern@teachforamerica.org
Web site: http://www.teachforamerica.org/
Source: PRNewswire
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