Teach For America strives to enlist the energy and commitment of individuals who have the characteristics and skills necessary to excel as teachers and to ultimately exert broader societal influence in our nation.. These leaders will be diverse in ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic background. Their places on the political spectrum and their religious beliefs will be similarly varied, and we seek individuals of all genders and sexual orientations and regardless of physical disabilities. Click here to view our diversity statement.
Ethnic and socio-economic diversity in the 2008 corps |
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|---|---|
| People of color | 29.0% |
| African-American | 10.0% |
| Latino/Hispanic | 6.0% |
| Asian-American | 6.0% |
| Native American | 0.4% |
| Multi-ethnic | 5.0% |
| Other (Non-white) | 2.0% |
| Pell Grant recipients | 26% |
At the same time that we value each individual who commits to our mission, we also place a particular focus on attracting and developing individuals who share the racial and/or socioeconomic backgrounds of the students we teach. These students are underserved by public schools and predominantly are African-American and Latino/Hispanic children living in low-income communities. The impact individuals from under-represented groups have on our recruitment focus is a function of two factors – that they are more likely to bring a deep understanding of the communities in which we are working, and that they are better able to focus others on what matters most because of the credibility that comes from their life experience.
We emphasize racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity to enhance our impact:
| Impact on students | Based on our experiences, we know students benefit from all talented, committed teachers. When such teachers are themselves from historically under-represented racial backgrounds or low-income families, they can have a profound additional impact. They serve as role models who help students to realize their potential for success in education and in life. |
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| Long-term impact | Alumni who share the racial and/or socioeconomic backgrounds of our students can also be particularly influential in the long-term push for societal change. Their experience offers rich perspectives and added credibility when working with school district leaders and board members from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, their leadership in and of itself demonstrates the value of societal change. |
| Collective strength | While it is the responsibility of each person within Teach For America to make decisions with sensitivity to the needs and desires of our students and communities, we have seen that individuals who are themselves from under-represented racial backgrounds or low-income family backgrounds can often ground the discussions and advance the thinking of our corps, alumni groups, and organization in important ways. |
As part of this effort, we also focus on Native Americans and Native Hawai'ians, given that these groups are disproportionately impacted by the achievement gap and we place corps members in several regions that are comprised almost entirely of students with these particular backgrounds. However, because of the geographical concentrations of these groups, we aim to bring on more Native Americans and Native Hawai'ians through regional efforts, but don’t prioritize this nationally.
The long-term effects of the gaps in educational opportunity, which Teach For America is working to address, are evident in the number and percentages of African-Americans and Latino/Hispanics who graduate from U.S. colleges every year. Our corps includes higher percentages of African-American and Latino/Hispanic college graduates than do the 400 colleges and universities at which we most heavily recruit. Still, we are aiming to increase the proportional representation of African-Americans and Latino/Hispanics within our corps to enhance our impact on students.
*College graduates from the 400 public and private colleges at which Teach For America most heavily recruits, including Historically Black Colleges & Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
Teach For America’s recruitment team is working aggressively to increase our diversity. To accomplish these goals, we personally cultivate students of color and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds on campus and connect top prospects to corps members and alumni with shared backgrounds. To increase awareness and identify top prospects, we present to campus-based student organizations and governing bodies (e.g. Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, minority Greek organizations) and seek referrals from influential faculty and staff. Moreover, we supplement our campus-based efforts through relationships with national organizations and scholarships and through national marketing and public relations efforts.
We know from our experience and research that people of all backgrounds can be successful teachers in low-income communities, and that race, ethnicity and socioeconomic background alone do not make an individual successful in our program. Given this, our selection model is based on a set of characteristics that our research has found differentiates the most effective teachers in our program, as indicated by the degree to which they make measurable advances in their students’ academic achievement.
Leaders come in many forms with varied past experiences, and there is no one profile of an ideal applicant. We have found that successful teachers demonstrate the following characteristics: high expectations for students and a deep commitment to helping them meet those expectations; perseverance in the face of obstacles; the ability to influence and motivate others and to operate with the respect and humility necessary to build collaborative relationships; and the problem-solving and organizational ability necessary to manage all the demands facing teachers.
Our admissions model enables us to gain a holistic view of each candidate through a variety of lenses: written application, phone interview, sample teaching, group activity, problem solving activity, personal interview, online recommendation forms, and transcript. Our interviewers seek to understand applicants’ ability to demonstrate the personal characteristics necessary to teach successfully within the context of their individual experiences and backgrounds.
Who we're looking for
Corps and Alumni
