New Study: Teach for America Producing Education Entrepeneurs

New Study: Teach for America Producing Education Entrepeneurs

An astounding 14 percent of Brown University seniors graduating later this month applied to the Teach For America (TFA) program this year, according to TFA Rhode Island Executive Director Heather Tow-Yick. And if the organization continues a trend found by a recent study, there is an opportunity one of those graduates may go on to transform education as we know it.

Education Next, an education reform news outlet headquartered at the Harvard Kennedy School, has found that the Teach For America program appears in the work history of 15 percent of the founders or co-founders of the country’s leading education entrepreneurial organizations, including the well-known KIPP Schools.

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The study also found that the majority of TFA alumni working in these education entrepreneurial organizations are overwhelmingly involved with the instruction and hiring process, which suggests the in-class experience had a lasting impact on them.

Focusing On Students

None of this comes as a surprise to Tow-Yick, who served in a classroom as TFA corps member prior to founding the organization’s Rhode Island chapter. She says many young people join because they believe in the TFA vision, but once they experience the program itself, their passion for equality in education is taken to a new level.

“Once corps members see first-hand the potential their students possess and the additional challenges poverty presents them, they become deeply invested in the movement to change that reality and provide every student with an excellent education,” Tow-Yick said.

She said her own experience speaks to the reason so many TFA alumni stay involved with education.

“I am an example of one person who saw the academic potential of all my students and committed my energy and efforts to upholding education equity and excellence for all students regardless of economic background as a result of my experience as a corps member.  All career and life decisions have centered around the question of 'How can I make the most impact for kids given my experience and skills?’”

The Need For Innovators

Critics of some education reform initiatives (TFA, charter management organizations, etc) say in the end, education entrepreneurial organizations need to put profit over changing lives. Rhode Island witnessed this experience firsthand earlier this year when Democracy Prep, a CMO started by Brown graduate Seth Andrews, pulled out of the Mayoral Academy Initiative after a funding dispute.

But Tow-Yick (at left) takes the “it takes a village to raise a child” approach, arguing that closing the achievement gap will take a contribution from everyone to achieve.

“The achievement gap between students growing up in low-income communities and their more affluent peers is a deeply entrenched problem and it will take innovative ideas from all sectors to change the fundamental conditions that contribute to it,” she said. “Great teachers employ that same creative spirit and dedication to continuous improvement to find new and better ways to engage their students and ensure student learning at the highest levels.”

Maryellen Butke, executive director of the Rhode Island Campaign For Achievement Now, agrees. She supports education entrepreneurs and suggests TFA clearly plays a major role in reforming education.

"These numbers simply affirm what so many already know about the Teach For America experience," Butke said. "The program only strengthens the corps members' commitment to education, which is why so many alumni go on to be innovators in the field. I have no doubt we'll see former Rhode Island Teacher For America members continue that tradition.”

Social Entrepreneurship In Rhode Island

Teach For America corps members are only completing their first year of service in Rhode Island, so it will be some time before TFA Rhode Island can make claims similar to the study. But Tow-Yick is confident the entire organization is moving in a direction that will continue to spawn social entrepreneurs for years to come. In fact, the organization has created a program that focuses on just that.

“Our social entrepreneurship initiative is part of our alumni leadership development efforts,” Tow-Yick said. “Dedicated staff members support interested alumni with skill development and networking as they pursue careers in school and teacher leadership, political leadership, social entrepreneurship, board leadership, policy and advocacy leadership, private sector careers, and nonprofit leadership.”

She said she expects Rhode Island will follow the TFA National’s lead.

”In Rhode Island, there is enormous potential for learning from and connecting with other social entrepreneurship and I am committed to this effort in the future.”

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