Students attending the panel discussion on "the Teach for America Controversy" packed into Petteruti Lounge Thursday night. The event, sponsored by the Roosevelt Institution, a non-partisan student think tank, addressed the effectiveness and long-term impact of the Teach for America program.
The panel included Professor of Education Kenneth Wong, Associate Professor of History James Campbell, Visiting Lecturer in Education Maureen Sigler, University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson, Teach for America Recruitment Director Meredith Boak and Erin Brown '08.
Brown published a paper in the latest issue of the Brown Policy Review called "Why Temporary Is Not Enough: The Controversy Over Teach For America," which ultimately led to the current panel discussion, said Camilla Hawthorne '09, Brown Policy Review educational policy editor and co-organizer of the event.
TFA's mission is to ensure that "one day, all children in our nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education," states Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of TFA, on the organization's Web site. TFA is a nonprofit organization that recruits college graduates to teach two years in urban and rural public schools.
The program is highly competitive - last year 18,000 individuals applied nationwide and approximately 2,900 were accepted. Over the past five years, 106 Brown alums have joined TFA, Boak told The Herald. In 2006, TFA accepted 25 Brown students, the greatest number of Brown students yet, she added.
At the event Thursday evening, the panel was asked to comment on the effectiveness of TFA and whether it significantly improves the educational experiences of students in underprivileged schools or just serves as a temporary solution to a complex problem.
The discussion - held the day before TFA's second application deadline, which is today - began with Wong, chair of the Department of Education, acting as the discussion's moderator and giving a brief overview of the history and evolution of TFA and its context within the larger movement of education reform.
He asked the panel members to describe their backgrounds and opinions on TFA's effects on public education. Panel members Sigler, Campbell, Boak and Nelson all served as educators at some points in their careers, and both Sigler and Boak are TFA alums.
Sigler and Campbell emphasized that TFA is a short-term solution. "It represents a Band-Aid which we put onto serious structural problem in our society," Campbell said.
Boak emphasized that 65 percent of TFA corps members stay in education. She added that TFA alums working in the business, law and policy-making communities continue to address the education reform problem and contribute to long-term solutions.
"This is not an ideal solution, (but) it is effective," she said.
Both Boak and Nelson emphasized that solutions to America's failed education system needed to come from the within the classroom. They cited the enthusiasm of new teachers as a powerful force in solving the education problems in America.
"TFA is not the panacea for teaching in urban and rural settings," Nelson said, adding that the trouble in school systems needs to be addressed by people who are "fired up" about teaching.
After 45 minutes of discussion about the panel members' various perspectives on TFA, Wong opened up the discussion to audience questions. Audience members primarily asked the panel to discuss the long-term effects of TFA on schools and its ability to address the need for structural reform in America's educational system called for by the panelists.
Alice Nystrom '08 asked a question about sustainable enthusiasm as a solution to problems in the education system, prompting perhaps the most telling comment of the night on the problem of TFA's effectiveness.
Campbell, in response to her question, described how he decided when he was working as a high school teacher that "I'm working way too hard" and chose instead to go to graduate school and become a college professor.
