This just arrived in my email box. The writer signed her name:
There has been so much debate about educational reform and about Michele Rhee and her Students First organization. I am compelled to describe my experience this past June with the Rhode Island Teaching Fellows Program, a Rhee brainchild. The Teaching Fellows work along the same lines of The New Teacher Project but the Teaching Fellows is an alternative route to teacher certification. The premise is to attract people from the public sector and after 5 weeks of training they will be employed as first year’s teachers in high needs urban schools. The catch phrase is “Let’s close the achievement gap” and get your teaching certification in an alternative route program-well yes I know all about the achievement gap and only starting to realize all the components at work and I decided to re-enter school to become a teacher and this program sounded perfect. I could not have been more wrong!
We start week one learning this militant type tactics of behavioral control-such as “Do it again” “Do it now” and “Slant” to name just a few-we practice this over and over again in a highly structured environment where our every move is scheduled and monitored. We are told where to sit, when to stand and when to speak-they occasionally mix up the tables I believe so friendships are not formed and “talk” starts. We have lunch in groups with our coaches. We are actually scheduled to meet with our coaches for “debriefing” where we are told not to talk and only answer with yes and no. We watch videos of children in which these tactics are employed in other States.
Students are drilled on how to line up, hands by side, mouths closed-told which way to turn and what muscle to move next. They are instructed like they are in the military or prison. All the kids in the video are of course black-these behavioral control tactics are of course not utilized in white schools. A strict agenda is posted in the morning requiring us to adhere to it without question. We are at this point working 16 hours a day and not thinking clearly at all. We are then told to start working on lesson plans that we will implement in the field experience component in the evening and e-mail them to our coach for a review. This lesson planning has to be evidently self-taught as I have taken no education courses, which is one of the requirements of the program.
The second week of the program we begin the field experience component is a 4 week 2.5 hour class consisting of students requiring summer school to recover credits. These are the very students we are supposed be so concerned about with the achievement gap. After 1 week of training we are individually thrown in front of this class of 22, still being monitored by training team members. I will argue that I am NOT an effective teacher after one week of training and these kids WILL suffer because of it. By the third day, 6 of my students were not in class and I believe they will ultimately drop out and as an inexperienced RI Teaching Fellow I am completely responsible; it is reprehensible what we are doing to these kids.
At the end of this 5 week period we are then placed in an urban school where we are allowed to teach under an emergency teaching certification. At this point we are required to join the TNTP academy where throughout out the year we attend classes and workshops to get our own teaching certification after one year. So the premise is that to qualify for the $5500 educational grant through AmeriCorps you must work in a high need urban school in Rhode Island, what is called the urban4-Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, and Central Falls. These are exactly the only districts we are allowed to apply to. We are also enrolled in AmeriCorps and will receive our educational grant of $5500 after one year of service.
The cost of this TNTP academy is $6ooo-hmmm…so I will argue that the Teaching Fellows Program doesn’t care one bit about closing the achievement gap but in fact victimizes our low income minority students to achieve their own agenda which is enrollment in the TNTP academy and to fill their own pockets with outlandish salaries. . I saw advertisements on employment agencies sites for jobs within the Teaching Fellows organization paying anywhere between $60-and $78,000.00 per year-a lot of income to certify perhaps 20 teachers a year in the State of Rhode Island and my guess is less than half of those will stay in the high needs urban public schools. When I began the program there where 28 fellows; I was the fourth to drop out by the eighth day. I believe this organization is syphoning money from public education grants to serve their own purposes and the students that are being harmed are the low income black and brown students in these high needs urban schools. Michelle Rhee and this organization need to be stopped. I have decided to continue on and obtain my M.A.T. and become an effective teacher the proper way in two years and not destroy the lives of unsuspecting students on my way. I am continually looking for ways to expose this organization for what it is and hope it’s days are numbered before any more harm is done to these students.
–Theresa Laperche
Thanks Theresa for sharing your story. I am very familiar with the DC Teaching Fellows program.
This is horrible….just when you think you have heard it all. How could this be allowed? Who monitors this program? This account should make it into the national media. Everything Rhee touches is poison.
Theresa, I am glad you are speaking out and I hope your plans work out for you.
Did I read/understand correctly that having had NO teaching program experience is a requirement of this teaching program?
Having no experience as a teacher is the requirement for teach NOLA as well.
That is because Teach NOLA is part of the same program.
Yes, you cannot have a teaching license or degree in teaching or any classroom experience to apply to the RITF program. And the fellows are teaching in classrooms that are NOT high need as well, like ELA and History, just b/c the districts have to set aside so many positions solely for the program to fill.
yes it is- we are NOT allowed to have more than 6 credits in education course to be accepted.
This is because they want to be able to control you. If you had
experience or any education background, you would question their practices. They don’t respect you or the kids. You serve their purposes…to replace the higher paid experienced teachers so they Can lower the labor costs….more money for top positions. Teachers are to control the kids while prepping for test taking…nothing more
than that. I am glad you got out and I wish you the best. Look for a teacher with experience and he or she will help you. Run from the reformer types who taught for two years and then proclaim themselves to be experts.
Hello…I stumbled upon this blog when I “Googled” the program since receiving emails regarding Teaching Fellows openings in the Ft.Worth area. I have a B.A. in English from CSU, Chico (2010). English Education was my major until my last semester, spring ’10, so I completed all of my education courses except the internship and capstone. Thank you for posting this blog with the truth; I heard about AmeriCorp while in class, as well as other horrors of certain programs. It is true that the “big ed businesses” don’t like people who are previously exposed to teaching practices so they can mold them into accepting whatever is thrown their way. Teaching remedial reading is why I returned to finish college after raising three children to responsible adulthood, but the reading program was suspended by CSU, Chico due to “budget cutbacks.” We are moving to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area from northern California this June/July to be near our two oldest children who now live there. The youngest will come with us for a better life and a job! I am going to pursue a position as a reading teacher aide or similar position to make a difference in people’s lives. Thank you for sharing this blog. It has help immensely.
They don’t want you to know anything,coming in, so you can be indoctrinated in their way. A veteran teacher would have got up, the first hour, and run, screaming, from the room. Especially a high school teacher. We do not like to be told where to sit!
A “change agent” cannot successfully mold the mind of the INFORMED.
Theresa, thank you for your courage and good luck to you in your studies! You made the right move. These fly by night organizations will be their own undoing because you can only keep a charade going for so long. In the meantime we will spread the word and hurry their destruction along.
Yes, forward Theresa’s story far and wide….everyone should read her account. Thank you Theresa!
Do I understand correctly that each fellow personally pays $6,000 to be enrolled in the RI Teaching Fellows program?
after the initial 5 week training program we receive a $2,000 pre-tax stipend-we are then required to join the TNTP Academy which is $6,000 for the year. Only upon completion do we receive our teaching certification at the end of the year. In the mean time we are working as teachers in schools. Seems like they are putting the cart before the horse and the students are the ones to suffer the consequences.
Theresa,
Please e-mail me, I was a fellow in the latest cohort of NYC Teaching Fellows and will be quitting the program also. I completely agree with what you said and have documented my experiences in the program as well. I am working on a research paper on how ineffective this program is. I would love to include testimonies from fellows across the country. Please fellows speak out, these students deserve to receive a high quality Education, it is a universal right. Theresa thank you for sharing this!
My name is Shuron Johnson. I was a Memphis teaching Fellow and I thought the program was ineffective to prepare someone for the classroom. I would love to hear more of your research.
Thank you for posting this info!
What a travesty! Although I don’t think that any kind of inanity in education would shock me at this point. Why don’t we just privatize all of our schools so some people make LOTS of money and NO child gets an education… The rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer.
Lisa, I think that is happening even w/o privatization. The rich are getting richer, by leaps and bounds, and the poor are sinking faster than ever. Who would have ever guessed the United States would come to this.
Sounds perfectly in keeping with the corporatist, conservative, and neo-liberal beliefs about the kind of “education” that is necessary for “those” children. Does each graduate of the program get a year’s supply of adhesive tape for the mouths of unruly children? Maybe a few dozen industrial-strength plastic ties to bind the hands of those who don’t keep them to themselves? I can readily see a Michelle Rhee teacher kid with those and similar items being marketed at every teacher store in the land. The woman is beneath contempt.
This is absolutely a misrepresentation of the summer training. Diane, I have a lot of respect for you and have followed you for many years. If you can push this out with such disregard for the truth, I have to question the rest of your platform and ideas. You are a published author and while you may not have the responsibility to fact check here, you do know journalistic best practices.
There is no such thing as Do it Now. Do It Again is a technique that helps students practice routines and asks them to stop it and repeat as soon as it goes wrong. How many teachers have told a class to sit back down and try again when they are noisy lining up for dismissal? SLANT is an acronym that sets the expectation that students sit up straight and pay attention to their teacher when they are talking.
These are some of the techniques from Doug Lemov\’s book, Teach Like a Champion. Heres the link: http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Like-Champion-Techniques-Students/dp/0470550473
The book offers the magic formula that the best teachers already know and should be read by all teachers – especially those who wallow in schools with unskilled administrators and no professional development. It would take a teacher a dozen years to learn these through trial and error and observations. These Fellows will be ready with these skills on day one.
I agree the tone of preservice training can be intense sometimes. But with such a momentous goal and the gravity of preparing bright, talented and energetic teachers for the challenges of teaching in an tough urban school in seven weeks, it is justified.
And these Fellows – the ones that can hack it- will be ready to teach day one and will truly be master teachers by 2013-14. Then it\’s up to the city and administration to pay and retain them after that.
I wonder if they use these techniques at Sidwell
Friends in DC with the Obama girls. We have already discussed the Lemov book and other charter prison prep training tips No need to defend the indefensible.
“Teach Like a Champion”, “The book offers the magic formula”
I have no desire nor need to teach like a “champion” whatever the hell a “champion” teacher is (but the idea sells the book). There is no “magic formula”, maybe some tips and advice but until one experiences the day in and day out interactions of the classroom one can’t begin to fathom the hundreds of choices that teachers make about classroom management on a daily basis. I’ve not read the book but have read many classroom “management” books over the years but it sure sounds like a “training” manual and not a “teaching” one. Canned approaches inevitably fail.
“These Fellows will be ready with these skills on day one. . . and will truly be master teachers by 2013-14”. So after one year of teaching they “will truly be master teachers”. Good thing I didn’t have a mouthful of tea or I would have wet my computer screen. Let’s ask the “Fellows” that stick around for ten years of teaching (good luck finding any) if they think that they were “master teachers” after their first year.
Marcus, I have some beautiful ocean front property down at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri that I can sell you quite cheaply. Let me know if you’re interested!
Thats the kind of thing they pump into Teach for America that they are smarter than the real teachers and better than they are. The TFAs believe it and come in arrogant until some grubby five year old knocks them down to size.
it doesn’t matter what the program is or is not. NOBODY should be allowed to teach on their own after only five weeks of training. And if Gist manages to get these hacks labelled as highly qualified, then I will be livid. Why have I invested so much of my time and money in becoming a teacher if this is the only way to actually be in a classroom???
@iTeacherLady – You’d be surprised at what Gist can do. Here she is on video attempting to break a kissing record in Washington, DC. BTW she was married when attempting this record..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/18/AR2009021803387.html
They do certify them in Louisiana and they have to be highly qualified under NCLB
“MAGIC FORMULA.”
You, sir, are either delusional— “MASTER TEACHERS BY 2013!”— or selling Snake Oil.
Step away from the children, please.
Let the real champion teachers teach the children and teach other teachers.
You must be employed by one of those outfits. It takes YEARS to become a good or great teacher. A few little weeks doesn’t cut it. Bright and energetic, whatever those mean, don’t cut it in public school education if you don’t have any real classroom experience.
3 years after an education degree. Sometimes 5 for special ed. You learn how to teach in college. You become a teacher when you teach and apply what you have learned. The first year is hell. The second you are more comfortable. By year three you are pretty good if you have stuck to the same grade or disability. Then the good ones go back and get a Masters.
AMEN! Enthusiasm and energy are the icing on the cake. If there is no cake, eating only icing can give you a stomach ache. And as for bright, well some very good teachers are not as bright but they know what they are doing and can relate to the difficulties the kids are having. Experience counts for a whole lot. Our department head in New Orleans had ADHD and worked a second job and was involved in her church. She was an excellent EBD teacher because she knew how her kids felt and had the energy to keep up with them. She had challenged her own challenge through years of experience.
That kind of teaching does not work for all kids or for all teachers. A teacher has to know when to be structured, when to stimulate creativity, thinking and conversation and when and who to hug. Some kids respond to high structure, but I always found that inner city kids responded to sincerity and genuine caring. They need teachers to love them and to expect them to to achieve and behave, not to boss them around all the time.
It has always made me sick to see a young mother walking with her children with a switch in her hand constantly threatening and cajoling them and never explaining that flower,rock or worm—just screaming, “Put that down”. That is what “teachers” in that program are going to be like if they follow the training, like inexperienced young mothers who don’t just relax and enjoy the beautiful gifts of God that their children/students are.
Marcus, Diane doesn’t need to fact check a person first-hand account.
I agree. Why would this lady make this up and sign her name? Have a friend in Providence schools. Will run it by her.
“The book offers the magic formula that the best teachers already know and should be read by all teachers –”
“magical… “?
This is an example of “magical thinking.”
Come on… even the least knowledgable corporate stooge knows that
he / she is supposed to deny the existence of “silver bullets” or “magic formulae” to teaching. Get with the script!
Here’s the medical definition:
“magical thinking: the erroneous belief… that thoughts assume a magical power capable of influencing events without a physical action actually occurring; a conviction that thinking equates with doing, accompanied by an unrealistic understanding of cause and effect;.”
“Examples Dreams in children, in primitive peoples, and in patients under various conditions
Segen’s Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.”
Just saying or thinking that some too-good-to-be-true “magical” solution or strategy will work does not make it so.
Thanks for the ‘magical’ explanation, Jack. I was drafting a response but right now I’m functioning on brain fumes. Good job! Magical. I love it. Later tonight Marcus, I’ll be wishing away war, hunger, and poverty. Care to join me?
Magical thinking is also part of the developmental level of 4-7 year olds. They think that if they wish, think, or talk about something that it will happen. (They often think that if someone dies it is because they were mad at them.) Sounds like Lemov thinks his thought and words will magically cure the problems of Education.
I just don’t like the arrogant and condescending tone of your response. The hubris of youth, I guess. What other explanation could there be?
I do like your goals and aspirations for the fellows, a Master Teacher by 2014- a bit lofty and definitely cocky. Not achievable in one year. No way. There is no “magic formula”.
Sorry for the digression. Now for my response to this Disneyesque description of teaching magic that these fellows and Marcus, I guess can provide to our children.
I hope the training has changed since Summer 2007 when I had a ‘fellow’ teach, or attempt to teach. She was a disaster. To say she was ill prepared was an understatement. She refused to take any suggestions from me or the students. (They eventually rebelled during one of her observations).
She refused to meet any of the members of her school’s teaching or security staff who were at the school where she was placed that summer. She said she would wait until September to meet the teachers and mumbled that she probably wouldn’t need to call the security staff since she felt she would have excellent classroom management skills.(Never mind that the classroom was in the basement, the students represented three neighborhood crews and they outweighed her by about seventy pounds.) No, she was quit capable and competent. At this point I gave up on her. She knew it all and there was nothing anyone could do to change her mind.
I guess everything was too intense for her. She never reported to school. Until they closed this school down- she was absent. Truant. A no show- and that was probably the smartest thing she has ever done.
Anyway, the description Theresa Laperche gives of the fellows program is
strikingly familiar.
My department head carries the title of master teacher. She is working on a second masters degree and has taught for over 20 years. My mentor teacher has been teaching over 10 years. I am starting my 5th year of teaching and not a day goes by when I dont seek their counsel. I am a product of a local alternative prep program. These folks that set it up are current teachers and have degrees in education. The director has her PhD and she assigns you a mentor who works with you throughout your first year along with your campus assigned mentor. The program is short (3 months) but these folks make sure you dont flounder that crucial first year. We take classes at night and are mentored very thouroughly. And after that first year they still hold alumni meets to see how we are doing and work with the local union to solve issues regarding our districts. In all the time I was in prep I never heard them say that teaching had a magic formula. They always said to seek the experienced teachers at our campus and to foster our education and professional development. I feel lucky to be an educator. And one thing for sure is I have learned a lot in 5 years. And by no means do I consider myself a master teacher.Especially not after my first year. I am sure that will happen a long time from now when I gather something called…what was that word again? Oh yes. I believe it is experience!!
Wow, ready to go day 1? Really? I was a fellow and have worked alongside some amazing teachers, fellows, veterans, and folks from degree programs. I would say that true champion teachers are reflective practitioners who realize that a book or any amount of training, much less five weeks, is never enough to make them ‘ready to go day 1’. You are always growing and learning as a teacher and if you are done learning after five weeks, you are not set out for teaching.
Where did Marcus go? Is he not willing to defend his stance? First we had the crazy $5 gift card lady and now this. The Rheeject is running a circus.
Once again a technique that sounds like it came from special education. A special educator or psychologist named Marc Gold had a technique for teaching skills and routines to special needs kids, especially older ones called TRY ANOTHER WAY. This was repeated until the kid got it right. It was popular in the late 1970s.
I notice there is no last name to this comment nor is there a link. Makes me disregard the comment.
What a joke, “magic formula,” you are clueless. This was a very accurate representation of these programs and they must be stopped.
Thanks Theresa. I teach in Providence, and I can’t imagine any school allowing teachers to treat kids this way. I know in my high school these tactics would never be sanctioned. Good Luck with your MAT.
And to think that the Great Reformer Adamowski advocates alternative routes of certification in CT. Unbelievable!
Could you imagine this: “Nurse Like a Champion” or “Doctor Like a Champion” and a program that asks us to pay $6000 so that they can train us to be master doctors and nurses in 5 weeks?? I wonder if that would fly. The New Doctor Project…sounds catchy…and absolutely no medical experience in order to get in! What say you?
That’s a good one okaikor!!
okaikor – Thank goodness we can joke about these programs. For now. Forever I hope. I love the $6,000 payment. What a scam. Have to give it to Rhee. Seems more like a bribe to become a teacher.
Unfortunately in DC, the TNTP can certify teachers for standard teaching licenses. Again, it sure sounds like a bribe to me. But hey. I’m a cynic.
I want to make clear that the 6,000 is for the licensure coursework a fellow takes to GET their license. It isn’t simply forking over 6,000 to get a paper.
Strangely enough that is what a lot of the for-profit private colleges do. They train medical assistants, nurses and other professionals in a short term program that licenses them quickly in return for a lot of federal money. An experienced nurse at a local hospital says that they can be a problem because they have techniques, but no grounding, no background. They know what to do but not why to do it nor any way to judge what they are doing. These schools are now under scrutiny by the federal government for high default rates on student loans and using a majority of the money they receive for marketing and paying recruiters instead of for teachers. Sound familiar?
Well, let’s let that just graduated high school student do this. By the sounds of it, they could. Think of just the lack of life’s experiences let alone the maturity that one should have when entering a classroom of students like Theresa was ‘teaching”. Just cruel to her and to the students involved. Our deformers think this kind of teacher training is going to close the achievement gap? Goodness, they are drinking too much kool-aide. Theresa, I’m so glad you saw the light and left the program. Thank you for sharing your story. It’s hard to believe this is a program that is still surviving.
And it could and will happen. In the charter schools just authorized to get state money in the voucher program in Louisiana, the teachers do not have to have a college education. John White said that they want to have as view regulations on them as possible. Oh, but they have 4 years in which to screw up the kids before they can lose their funding. So we could see 18 year olds teaching, we 17 year olds. Or maybe 21 year olds considering how NCLB has held back so many students and left 16 year olds in middle school for not passing the tests.
The line about teacher training was snuck in under an unrelated topic in the 1000 page bill, by the way. The legislators only had the bill for two weeks before Bobby Jindal’s thugs pushed it up as the first agenda for the legislative session.
SLANT is used by Match and by Relay. These techniques come out of the charters. Lemov is a big wheel in Uncommon charters. Read about more techniques here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/some-scary-training-for-teachers/2012/07/25/gJQAzXyJAX_blog.html
These include telling teachers to ‘pounce like a cat’ on misbehavior and to be a “bad ass”. Relay is now training NYC teaching fellows and pushing out schools of Ed. Theresa, good luck to you and don’t give up on being a teacher because of this experience.
I wonder why so many TFA folks I’ve observed and/or coached – in Brooklyn, the South Bronx and Detroit – had serious classroom management difficulties for at least their first year in the despite their fabulous training.
By the way, I tend to get my panaceas confused. Is it TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR’S A CHAMPION; TEACH LIKE YOUR CHAMPION’S ON FIRE; or CHAMPION THE FIRING OF YOUR HAIR, TEACHER?
Nice critique of Lemov from the perspective of teaching mathematics: http://numberwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/the-problems-with-lemovs-teach-like-a-champion/
I was part of the Orleans Parish Teaching Fellows program, which I later found out was part of the New Teachers Project, in 2004. At that time is was not an alternate certification program but one that was intended to attract CERTIFIED teachers to the Orleans Parish schools. We came from all over America. They did not put us through any militaristic crap but did give us a week of professional development. By the end of the year, however, something happened to the Teaching Fellows contract and then, of course in the fall, Katrina came and that opened the flood gates to the charters and Teach for America.
I always find it interesting that only urban inner city children are subjected to miliartaristic education. They are also forced to wear uniforms. The message, I wonder if it has gotten to the children yet seems to be “There is something wrong with you because you are poor. You don’t know how to dress. You don’t know how to act. You are too stupid to learn like normal children, so you have to be taught differently from richer children and have conformity and discipline drilled into your little heads”.
I have thought about doing a charter school that was uniform free, flexible, and catered to children who were special needs, GBLT, or had other issues of non-conformity such as pregnant and parenting, homelessness, foster care or other things that make staying in school difficult. I wonder if Louisiana would give me vouchers for Rainbow Academy.
It was obvious that these folks (charter ilk, etc.) didn’t trust the kids but I have to say, it’s also obvious they don’t trust their teachers. What a dismal situation. But, it does make sense if you’re a kazillionaire, everyone else is not to be trusted or they’d be kazillionaires too. People who “want” to be poor or middle-class are really the Other and have to be molded into a pliant serf so that they can better serve the corporation. It has always killed me that the issue of class is verboten in the US, it’s becoming more and more clear that the rich guys consider themselves the masters of the universe and if you don’t have the $$$ to join that club, well, welcome to regimentation! It’s what you and your children deserve.
I worked for the TFA program last summer as a supervising teacher (basically a baby-sitter for the TFA candidates who aren’t allowed to be in a classroom by themselves without a certified teacher). The writer discribes the regimentation of this program to a tee.
What’s sad is that the children in the summer are the ones needing the most help. Instead, they are placed in a classroom with people who have no experience teaching or working with children. Although I was expected to sit in the back and simply observe, I had to get involved several times when the inexperience of these candidates resulted in violent confrontations with the students.
TFA would never fly in the suburbs where my child attends school. The parents would never stand for it! What is it about accepting sickeningly inexperienced and unprepared teachers that makes it ok for the children of the poor?
Originally, I thought these alternative programs were designed to place teachers in hard to place areas. NYC had a hiring freeze for outside applicants for the past two years, except for (you guessed it) TFA applicants. Why are principals hiring TFA applicants when there is a plethora of more qualified, certified applicants? Taxpayers should be demanding why our money is going to finance a system that may have had some reason for existing in the past, but is now not needed and more disheartening, is negatively impacting the lives of hundreds of low income students while lining the pockets of a select few adults.
Hi Theresa,
There is a group in Providence called the Coalition to Defend Public Education that is fighting against the corporate reform juggernaut in Rhode Island. We meet Tuesdays at 7 at Libertalia, 280 Broadway. You can also connect with us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/181039958599137/352456004790864/?ref=notif¬if_t=group_activity
We need new teachers to become activists!
Thank you for this post. We wrote up a post today about the StudentsFirst letter that landed in our mailbox. It was celebrating the legislators who had signed on to the propaganda in Missouri and we countered some of it with this teacher’s letter.
You can see it is truly a bipartisan effort.
http://www.missourieducationwatchdog.com/2012/08/who-is-studentsfirst-backing-in-mo.html?spref=fb
Teach for America, A Failed Experiment in Education
As an educator, it is truly unsettling that society has become so frustrated with the failure of school systems such as the District of Columbia Public Schools to educate its urban youth that society has brought into the concept that youthful exuberance and a five week Teach for America training program usurps a quality education from a formal School of Education from an university. What is even more unsettling is that trained experienced educators are being replaced by these Teach for America neophytes.
To cite from a passage from ”The Bee Eater” by Richard Whitmire, the author states from page 2;
“That October day, Rhee, fresh from a sheltered academic life at Cornell University and beginning a two – year commitment with Teach for America, was fighting for control over her class of thirty-six second graders. And also was fighting for her dignity. For Rhee, the daughter of a physician who grew up in a placid neighborhood in Toledo raised to always be the best at what she did, this was her first flirtation with failure. And this was no transient failure. On some days that school year, when Michelle would wake up and realize it was another school day, her stomach churned and her body broke out in hives”.
To continue from page 3 the author states in reference to Michelle Rhee:
“I had my rolled-up lesson plan about the marshmallows, which was now no good, and I smacked the bee and then flipped it into my hand – and at it.”
As an experienced educator with three different Master’s Degrees in Education, these two passages are proof as to why the Teach for America program is a disservice to education. What is even more unsettling is that this was a class of second graders. The developmental years, pre-k to third grade is the most important years of a child’s academic experience. If a Teach for America teachers do not have the classroom management skills to control a group of second graders, how will these Teach for America teachers manage middle or high school students? By bribery? As stated by Rhee, from page 2, “I had brought in marshmallows for the kids to eat. This was my big bribe.”
A former colleague, a first year Teach for America teacher had a closet full of candy she used to bribe her students. I told her that a true professional teacher trained in classroom management skills does not need candy to control a class. One day, someone broke into the closet and took all of the candy. Can you imagine how her day went without her candy to bribe her students? She was in tears by the end of the day.
It takes at least three years to begin to understand how to teach. Many Teach for America teachers don’t last three years. As inner city school systems continue to replace experienced teachers to save money with the Teach for America teachers, the students who need these experienced teachers the most are deprived of their education. Test scores in the District of Columbia have remained stagnant since the Michelle Rhee experience. Kaya Henderson is no better. Fortunately for the District of Columbia Public Schools, they were granted a waiver for NCLB.
I’m not sure how I missed Theresa’s post about TNTP Academy. I participated in a TNTP pre-service training program this past summer and quit after I could not stomach what we were being asked to do to children in the summer school program. I managed to finish up the summer session so that my students would not lose a teacher midstream, but left after Week 4 of the five-week training program.
The overwhelming majority of our training focused on learning how to control children using Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion Techniques. The program administrators had an unhealthy devotion to Doug Lemov, which contributed to a cult-like atmosphere. At the beginning of our training, we received rubber bracelets inscribed with the letters “WWLD” (What Would Lemov Do?). Some Teaching Fellows actually wore them. Our coaches spoke giddily of how they had actually met Doug Lemov at one if his training workshops. He truly held celebrity status. Teaching Fellows spent hours upon hours practicing the Lemovian techniques with each other, and then later being assessed by our 25-year-old (read: inexperienced) coaches on how effectively we used the techniques during pretend teaching sessions.
Of course, we were also assessed on how well we applied the techniques in our classrooms with real students. Having any sort of problem in the classroom? Doug Lemov has a technique for that! Regardless of what difficulties we were facing, we were always ALWAYS directed back to a Teach Like a Champion technique, and never anything else. We were trained to apply the techniques indiscriminately, regardless of the child’s age, personal circumstances, or other situational factors. About half the students in my class had special learning needs or emotional/behavioral difficulties (of course, I was never told what their specific disabilities were, nor was I advised on how to provide appropriate accommodations to meet their needs). Some of my students were neglected at home and came to school feeling distressed or angry. Yet all were expected to respond equally well to techniques like 100% (i.e., a magical Lemovian technique designed to elicit 100% compliance from 100% of students 100% of the time), Strong Voice (which involves squaring up, standing still, and quiet power–whatever that means), Threshold (which involves shaking the teacher’s hand firmly upon entering the classroom, while giving eye contact and confidently saying good morning), and No Opt Out (i.e., a student who gives an incorrect response is asked to give the correct response after hearing a classmate’s correct response). I could bark commands for my students to “track me” and to “SLANT”—and some of them would follow along—but once I had their attention, I was unsure of what to do with them. Although we were armed with plenty of Teach Like a Champion techniques, at no point did we learn how to…well…teach.
As Theresa mentioned, the saddest part of the situation was that real children were suffering so that I could be “trained.” These were real-life first-grade children whose promotion to second grade depended on their summer school performance. Yet I had received no training in pedagogical techniques and had very little understanding of what first graders were supposed to know. I was given a list of very general “teaching points” and told to refer to the internet to design lessons that aligned with those points. There was no curriculum and no books for my language arts students to use in class or take home. To top it off, our rigid daily agenda allotted only 1 hour and 15 minutes for language arts instruction, which is the subject I taught. During these 75 minutes, I was supposed to give a “Do Now” for reading, teach a full reading lesson including phonics, vocabulary, and content, give a reading “Exit Ticket,” give a “Do Now” for writing, teach a full writing lesson, and give a writing “Exit Ticket.” I promise this is not an exaggeration. The Exit Tickets were made up by me (I am definitely not qualified to design assessment tools, nor were we trained to do so), and students’ scores on these three-item daily assessments partly determined whether they passed or failed summer school. I informed my coach—a 3-year “veteran” teacher, charter school founding member, and graduate of TNTP’s Master Teacher program—that I was struggling with this timeframe. Her response was to help me practice rushing my students through activities during a personal coaching session. Even if it meant delivering incomplete lessons, adherence to the Lemovian “Do Now” and “Exit Ticket” techniques was imperative. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with many of Lemov’s techniques. I have no doubt that many of them are useful under the right circumstances. However, I’m sure that even Doug Lemov did not intend his book to be used as a comprehensive teacher preparation program.
Another point worth mentioning: The power structures within the TNTP teacher training program are very rigid and very visible, adding to the organization’s cult-like vibe. The managers are clearly controlling the behavior of the coaches and instructors, who in turn are controlling the behavior of the Teaching Fellows, who in turn are supposed to control their students. No one working for TNTP deviates from “the script.” They all tow the party line very faithfully, adhering to TNTP rhetoric even when doing so doesn’t really make sense. Everyone working for TNTP also uses the same set of buzzwords and phrases, further strengthening the appearance of a united front. Overall, the vibe is really eerie.
I was so exhausted by the long days of pre-service training that it took me a while to form a rational judgment about what I was taking part in. Once I “woke up,” I was shocked by what I was being trained to do. Treating compliance and submission to authority as a primary goal for any child—and especially for poor children—is wrong and violates the purpose of public education. At the end of the day, I could not go forward with a career change into teaching. I saw how charter schools in that particular school district were being run and knew that there was no way I could work there and maintain my sanity. Many of the charters were being run by former TFAers, many under the age of 30. Everything is about test prep and test scores. And why on earth did TNTP bring a fresh crop of untrained teachers into the city while the district was handing out pink slips to fully credentialed teachers? This point in history is just a really inhospitable time for members of the teaching profession.
Just one big happy family of ….Collectivists.
Wow! Finally found an experience just like mine. 8 days was enough for me. Never heard the word Pedagogy once; just control techniques. Common core? “Familiarize yourself.” I too will pursue the MAT.
Thank you for posting this, I think you just saved me a lot of time and probably money.
Your comments are so negative. You accuse the Teaching Fellowship Organization of racism (without actually saying it). If you are going to have such strong opinions, have the guts to say what you mean. You act like you didn’t know that you were going to have to student teach for summer classes. You were well aware of it when you signed up for the training and, if you weren’t, then you don’t have enough intelligence to be a teacher. When they warned you that it was going to be intensive and hands-on, did you think it was going to be like high school ? Why would you think that you were going to come out an expert teacher after 5 weeks? Do you know what “Baptism by Fire” means and how much you learn by jumping in there and doing the best you can, even if you falter? The fact that you dropped out after just 8 days shows that you are a quitter. How can you comment on the experience when you didn’t have the tenacity to stick it out? You blame the fellowship program for not helping those kids in high-needs schools, but the reality is that you are part of the problem. You gave up on those students after 8 days. So I hope you find a position in a nice suburban school, if not, you better reconsider your career goal.
The goal of our education system is NOT to facilitate the (upward) social mobility of the poor and middle class. Our education system has always served the interests of industry and government (in that order). That said, I am amazed that some of the experienced teachers who have posted comments here are not acknowledging this fact. Read about The Law of 1642, The Law of 1647, the common schools movement, and Horace Mann. It is clear that education first served to ensure compliance by citizens of the “New World”. Horace Mann found a way to implement public education efficiently for the sake of ushering in the industrial age under the guise of educational reform (he studied and based his model on the Prussian system – which was established to maintain a rigid stratification of social classes). Today, the system has become so efficient and effective in maintaining the status quo, that even those who work within the profession are deluded about the true nature of the education system. The added wrinkle today is that the institution itself has become part of the foundation of our economic system. Like the penal system, criminal justice system, and the military, there are many corporations that profit from the inherent flaws in our public education system (Pearon, ETS, Kaplan, The Apollo Group etc).
In my (marginally expert) opinion, neither traditional accredited teacher education programs or accredited MAT programs are any better than TNTP (and similar alternative certification programs). Each path/model has its pros and cons. How institutions (or alt cert programs) implement the model adds uncertainty to the outcome, as well as the individuals who choose the path, and the schools where they start their careers. Being a college professor, I have personally mentored students who have chosen all of the aforementioned routes to becoming a K-12 educator. I know students who performed well in traditional teacher education programs for several years, only to find that they hated teaching when they started their (unpaid) internship. Maybe the student committed to becoming a teacher too early and later found that their interests changed. It could have been lousy chemistry between the student, the placement coordinator, the host school, and the in-service teacher. Either way, earning a BA/BS in early childhood, elementary, or secondary teaching does not ensure quality of the outcome. In truth, I find that many students remain in the teacher education program only because they have already committed 3 (or 4) years to becoming a teacher and they cannot afford to switch to another major.
Most MAT programs are merely cash cows. From talking to friends who have gone through various MAT programs, washing out is difficult because these programs are solely intended to generate revenue. Low completion rates aren’t attractive to potential students, so participants are given a lot of latitude (in terms of attendance and grades). Given what I’ve read here, it appears that candidates are much more likely to wash-out of TNTP due to the rigor (or rigidity…depending on your perspective).
I don’t know much about Lemov or his “Teach Like a Champion” how-to/self-help book (lol). However, it sounds very much like the programmed instruction that I have delivered in manufacturing organizations (but modified for K-12 of course). In academe, there are countless elitists who profess to have all the answers (or maybe a lot of questions) regarding the problems with our education system. Aside from the critical pedagogy folks like Paolo Friere, they fail to acknowledge that the system is doing what it was designed to do. What really is a master teacher? Is it someone who can effectively manage a class using non-Skinnerian techniques? Is it someone who does an excellent job of helping their students earn high scores on standardized tests? Is it the tenured teached with national board certification who spends 10 years teaching middle-class kids in the suburbs or the 25 year veteran teaching in the inner-city (who is a staunch supporter of the teacher’s union)?
At the end of the day, we are all perpetuating a system that stratifies people by race, gender, class, and ability for the benefit of those who control the wealth and resources in this country.
Btw…please excuse my typos (if there are any). I didn’t spell check this post….
While I understand the concerns of this and comparable programs, let’s be honest and note that most new teachers are not mature (Note: by mature, I do not mean senior, just at least 6-10 years work experience) and do not have experience. Do we really think a 22 year old with a degree in education is ready to deal with 14 year old with bullets in their house and not enough to eat? The reality is we are asking over simplistic questions and getting comparable answers.
Perhaps alternative teaching programs are a great solution for people who have masters degrees in other fields, college or community teaching experience, youth experience and maturity. We do underestimate the ability in our culture for a mid career switcher to be able to use transferable skills (ex: training is teaching).
PS: A mid career person is not in their twenties-unless they graduated college in their teens.
We also know professionally that for a mature professional, less training is required to switch fields. That being said, not all mid-career professionals have what it takes to be teachers. It’s also hard to not be a bit formulaic in a class of 30 kids with questionable skills to give attention, and sit still. That answer, of course, to that one is to have smaller classes. In leu of that, you may have to be more rigid, regardless of how you feel about rigidity on an idealistic level.
There does need to be a faster track for people qualified to teach college, or those who are experts in their areas and have youth experience. However, all of these programs have taken too many people who lack maturity to lead. No 22 year old needs an accelerated path. For someone in their early-mid twenties, that is called grad school. But if you have a PHD or a professional degree/high level 60+ credit masters? Really, you shouldn’t need another 30 credit masters. An accelerated program should be a good match for the right people. I think the real question here is: “Are the right people being chosen?” TFA has their primary recruiting efforts placed on fresh college grads. That won’t be successful often. If you are taking a fresh college grad that will, with rare exception, take more formal training. (Before all the 22 year olds rail, please talk to me when you are 30 and tell me you are not better equipped then when you were 22).
However, even the most traditional route spits out 22 year old kids totally lacking the maturity they need to address the needs of our highest need youth. I don’t think people should be teaching anything without masters degrees (or at least a decade of field experience)–period. If you can’t teach a college freshman without a higher degree of education, why can you teach a high school senior? I do think more mature professionals and exceptionally educated people have better capabilities to handle complicated situations.
There are also people teaching subjects that have no business teaching them. I have taught in an MAT program. The grads all needed to go back and learn their field. And if you think our 22 year old coming out of a BA or BS certified are prepared? They get one term of student teaching. They often have a very similar experience to what the woman described above–often with the actual “teacher” completely check out as if they have been granted vacation. The success of traditional teaching programs often rely on the chance of a strong teaching “teacher” paired with the student teacher.
Bottom line. Teaching should be (and is) an honor and a privilege. There should be a path for people who have “done their time” in their fields. and meet a high level of qualifications There should not be a short cut for recent grads who don’t want to get a masters. And we need to do better in our teacher preparation. Teaching should be something we all have to fight our way into (similar to the way you have to fight to get a professorship– not that that system is perfect either–don’t get me started).
But our teachers should be exceptional professionals, proficient and passionate in their fields, experienced in youth development, who realize that summers “off” are for professional development, and that work does not end when the bell rings. Now how do we get there? We have the people, and they want to teach (ask the colleges how many applications they get?) but they are not going to take a 50% pay cut and wait 10 years to get back up to a decent standard of living. Alternative teaching programs should focus on adult mid career professionals who have a background with teaching, training and youth that signals likely success in a shortened route. We will have better schools with these people recruited into teaching.
But if you think our traditional route is spitting out success and will magically make good teachers prepared for the changes we need? Take a tour of our urban or rural low income schools…. It is easy to blame it on administration, budgets, but the reality is, it’s all of the above. It is complicated and requires we started asking complicated questions and exploring complex solutions. More experienced, qualified people will help. How do we get there?
Very well said–from a career changer with alot of experience
I think the first sign that this is a scam is that they actually charge you to enroll so they make $25 per application I wouldn’t be surprised they upped the applicants just to make money
I just wanted to say thank you to all who have contributed to this thread. I was recently offered the position with the TEACH Charlotte Fellows run by TNTP. I have been trying to research the organization because there is very little detail disclosed up front outside of the schedule and requirements. This thread has been very helpful and has lead me to the decision to work for another year then pursue a degree in education. While I don’t necessarily see enough evidence to call in to question the organizations motives, I agree that the exclusion of anyone with and educational background and dedication to one book, focused solely on a militant technique is plenty of information to help me realize that this is not the route I want to take to becoming and teaching and making an impact on children’s lives (not just their test scores).
When I told my friend (A high-needs public school teacher for almost 8 years now) about the potential position with the program, she immediately voiced some skepticism and asked me how many of those teachers were actually effective and how many stay in their positions long-term. I’ve yet to see anything suggesting that this organization is having an overall, long-lasting positive impact and I’m thankful I read this thread and was given the information I needed to avoid making an unwise decision.
Good luck to all of you in your continued research to bring truth to the actual effectiveness and potential consequences of programs modeled like TNTP and TFA. For me its time to get to work and pursue formal educational training before I step into the classroom.
Thank you for the information. I was in my final interview with TNTP Fort Worth but did not know if it is worth it or get my MAT. I think I’ll stick with the MAT although it’s tempting to go right into teaching.
I am saddened that Theresa had such a negative experience in Teaching Fellows. However, I have just completed my 3rd week of Fort Worth Teaching Fellows, and have had a very different experience. There are definite flaws in the program, but many of my difficulties stem from bureaucracy Fort Worth ISD, not the Teaching Fellows.
The program is intense, yes. We are either teaching, planning, or in class from 7a.m. til 530 p.m. with the exception of a one hour lunch break. The first week I was also bringing home an hour or two of work in the evening. We were warned of the schedule and the demanding nature of the program well in advance, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
As for doing the students a disservice, I felt better prepared after a week of training than i believe some teachers are after 4 years of school. By all means, I have alot to learn, but teaching, to some degree, requires a trial by fire. There are so many things that simply cannot be taught without experience. Also, we are paired with a certified teacher who works with us to help students succeed, and are constantly monitored by staff. If something goes wrong, it will be immediately addressed. Teaching Fellows does their best to make sure these kids get the best, and nothing less.
The practices we are expected to demonstrate in class are not militant. They show an expectation that the kids will do it right, with respect, and that if they don’t it is our job to teach them how.
As for the observation about race in the classroom… Welcome to reality. I don’t like it, and feel a responsiblity to try to change it (hence my involvement with Teaching Fellows) but most low income, high risk students are black or brown. What did you expect to see in TNTP videos?
Also, I cannot say enough about the staff/coaches in Fort Worth. They have constantly been available and open to feedback. Overall I feel I’ve received excellent advice, training, and support. I know there are differences from city to city, but I felt a need to give the other perspective on TNTP and Teaching Fellows.
They have no shame. The above post is clearly a representative of TNTP. All scholarly research points to poverty as the number one factor in determining educational success. There are several factors, including teacher effectiveness but poverty, not teachers, is number one. Attacking teaching without ultimately addressing the issues of poverty, is like a diabetic taking insulin, but not exercising and losing weight. It keeps up the facade that you’re fixing the problem when you’re really not.
Obviously poverty is a factor, but it is not THE factor. Read “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way” by Amanda Ripley. There are other countries with high poverty rates that have better educational outcomes than the US.
I was also in an East Coast division of TNTP but recently dropped out. Definitely can relate to the controlling, dehumanizing and militaristic tactics that the program imposes on Residents under the guise that properly learning to implement these “techniques” will make them better teachers. Residents are taught to “Control the Game” at all times by preoccupation with what the student is doing or should be doing at every moment (eyes on me, hands folded, backs against chair, mouths closed). The techniques and standards that TNTP champions are not even backed by any sort of empirical support and the reports they issue are heavily laden with propaganda. Public school students are reduced to test scores and there is a total lack of sensitivity toward the socioeconomic realities of the students and their community. What this program DOES do effectively is further politicize education to the detriment of poor, inner-city students while cashing in big time. Stupidly, I did not put 2 and 2 together until leaving the program…TNTP is making a profit of over $6,000 on EVERY resident they put through. In our particular division, approximately 150 Residents are recruited every year. TNTP is in 14 cities. Any alternatively certified teacher could tell you that’s a sh_t ton of money.
What happens if you drop out? Will they charge money?
I am a NYCTF and I am considering to leave. Still in preservice training. I feel something is wrong with the program.
Did you end up staying in your program?
I dropped out of Teaching Fellows and critized their
program in the process for bullying and their placement process
didn’t give us any choice on what masters we’d get or in what
school we would be placed and my advisor was huge on evangelizing.
The feeling was like a creepy cult where we were observed and the
trainers would listen in on our converstations when we weren’t in
class. I ended up being accepted into a better program while I was
training with Teaching Fellows and with the same school district
and got a tuition waiver through the public university. The dean at
the public university told me he had no respect for Teaching
Fellows and did not want to do cohorts with them because they are a
disservice to education. But, Teaching Fellows blacklisted me with
the school district where I was trying to get a position. I ended
up getting the same position in a different school district but it
was very unfair of them to blacklist me and an
inconvenience..
@TK- What is the name of the other program you ended up getting? I’m applying to the fellows now.
Did you finish? Was it really hard? Why did you wish to drop out
I dropped out. I had been teaching in an experiential in Galapagos and working in Community Education. The educational philosophy I knew was from UN education programs and much more advanced in its research. So, the Teaching Fellows – Milwaukee seemed backwards because they were all about privatization / Common Core standards and their teacher training philosophy was to bully trainees into teaching better and they would spy on us which felt very strange. They also were not clear about our title for our MA and the school to where we would be going. On top of this my adviser’s research was focused on implementing song and prayer into public schools. And, coincidentally, he came by my house to evangelize me. I did not have to pay back any money but I dropped out before my grad school started.
It was through the public university. Many public universities are following what research proves is best while trying to get around Common Core. Many have grant money in different areas that focus on what is needed in the community and offer tuition waivers for positions they need to fill.
Thank you so much for exposing The New Teacher Project. I was in Georgia Teaching Fellows and had a very similar experience. The program was very misleading and did not tell me I would be observed and graded on such unrealistic expectations in such a short time. About half if my cohort including myself failed the program during Pre-service training. They did NOT prepare teachers and are doing a huge disservice to students and aspiring teachers. They definitely need to be exposed
I was dismissed from the Fort Worth cohort for asking if it we’re possible to push kids too far and if there was any suggestion for student push back. I was told I was too negative and needed to leave.
TNTP is a way for urban districts to outsource their hr departments and for TNTP to gouge taxpayers out of their money all at the expense of children. Everyone who has any knowledge of education knows the achievement gap caused by POVERTY. No amount of military drum beating is going to change that.
I have since gone to a real live graduate program and I am currently a teaching intern (which means a veteran teacher oversees everything I do for a year. )Like it should be.
I left in October 2012 and they did not charge. I felt they could have helped me stay, as I was pregnant and needed to take a leave, so I also question the motive. Additionally the graduate school they enrolled me in was ridiculous and they did not allow you to transfer.
I applied and removed myself from consideration right before I was to have an interview. (Reading these comments, I’m glad I did.)
I was shocked, however, to be sent a “poll” after this. It wasn’t your typical “why did you change your mind?” poll; once I followed the link, they were asking questions like “Why did you drop out after making the commitment to join?” So I suppose they had slotted me for a position before I had even been interviewed. Wow. I also made sure to tell them more than once that I had never been given an offer to join; I suspect that this “poll” was there as a tool for potentially coercing people fulfill their (legally required?) commitment. The poll smelled of rat.
And one more detail about the money trail: don’t forget the twenty dollars they charge to apply. If the high selectivity rate they advertise is truthfully reported, that adds up to a chunk.
This experience is very similar to mine. First I applied to NYC Teaching Fellows. My background is in Community Education and have worked in various countries including Nicaragua after their civil war and in the Ecuadorian Amazon to educate communities of their human and environmental rights. I also taught Bilingual Education for a National Geographic school in the Galapagos. I emphasized my community education background and the woman who interviewed me snapped at me and said “There are no communities in NYC” 2 weeks after the interview I got a rejection letter and found that I scored really well on everything but didn’t pass the interview because the woman didn’t think I knew the reality in NYC public schools.
I then interviewed for the same program in Milwaukee and was accepted. I got there and the future teachers were bullied and shamed thinking this would make them better teachers. Then they were never clear about what our degree would be and finally were told it would not be Bilingual Ed like we thought; it would be Urban Ed. Our adviser’s research at the school Cardinal Stritch was focused on “Song and Prayer in Public Schools”. Ironically he lived in my neighborhood and came by to evangelize me. It was just too weird and felt very narrow minded. I think it is actually a disservice to urban students.
As a 10 year teacher who was a fellow and someone who worked for tntp and teaching fellows the organization is definitely racist. It is in their training videos as to which teachers are developing vs. novice. The whole norming process is code for let indoctrinate the new coaches with videos where the white teachers are shown to be vigorous (as they scream out directions at 5th graders every 2 seconds) and African American teachers are shown be ineffective. They throw videos at you where the difference is hard to distinguish but low and behold in the norming process you are trained to perceive the white teachers as developing in more categories than any of the African American teachers. Also during this time you sit with a “Manager” of the 95% Caucasian management team who stalk and jump on any misspoken word than any one who happens to be African American, Hispanic or Asian says and them flag you for not conforming enough to Lenovo’s techniques and their cult like mentality. Managers definitely seek out to make coaches and fellows who do not fit the mold as young and white uncomfortable. Also their diversity training is code for do not have empathy for your students 100% No Excuses. There is something ugly and ultra conservative about this organization it is not liberal at all. There is a difference between believing in every student’s ability and penalizing them for not conforming and justifying it a helping them achieve. Trust me these people do not want you like, smile or be kind to your students. Also as of late the past 3 year teaching fellows went from being the best in new teachers to being the worst. They don’t connect with students because of this indoctrination and then their classrooms are a nightmare for any students. They are inflexible a quality so important in teaching. I was happy to hear from some of the new fellows how in interviews with Principals they were told that TF treated the book like a bible and how many were now reluctant to hire fellows because of it.
As a 10 year teacher who was a fellow and someone who worked for tntp and teaching fellows the organization is definitely racist. It is in their training videos as to which teachers are developing vs. novice. The whole norming process is code for lets indoctrinate the new coaches with videos where the white teachers are shown to be vigorous (as they scream out directions at 5th graders every 2 seconds) and African American teachers are shown be ineffective. They throw videos at you where the difference is hard to distinguish but low and behold in the norming process you are trained to perceive the white teachers as developing in more categories than any of the African American teachers. Also during this time you sit with a “Manager” of the 95% Caucasian management team who stalk and jump on any misspoken word than any one who happens to be African American, Hispanic or Asian says and then flags you for not conforming enough to Lenovo’s techniques and their cult like mentality. Managers definitely seek out to make coaches and fellows who do not fit the mold as young and white uncomfortable. Also their diversity training is code for do not have empathy for your students 100% No Excuses. There is something ugly and ultra conservative about this organization it is not liberal at all. There is a difference between believing in every student’s ability and penalizing them for not conforming and justifying it as helping them achieve. Trust me these people do not want you to like, smile or be kind to any students. Also as of late the past 3 year teaching fellows went from being the best in new teachers to being the worst. They don’t connect with students because of this indoctrination and then their classrooms are a nightmare for any student. They are inflexible a quality so important in teaching. I was happy to hear from some of the new fellows how in interviews with Principals they were told that TF treated the book like a bible and how many were now reluctant to hire fellows because of it.
I had started looking into the TNTP program, and I’m very glad I was shown this before going any further. I had started the application, but stopped partway through to talk with the person in charge of the Georgia Teaching Fellows program. We exchanged a few emails, and when I realized I wouldn’t be eligible for the 2014 cohort, I backed off.
The lady assumed I would be back next year; I was already put off by the amount of training in a very short period of time, and how much it costs to get certification. I’m not coming back to the Teaching Fellows program, regardless of what they think!
Well, I am so glad to know that I am NOT crazy. I was in the Indianapolis version of TNTP, ITF and all of the negative comments here are exactly what I went through. I am an African-American, wife and mother. I left corp. america to make this career change, and regretted the decision after about 2 weeks. I went home crying almost every night because of the dehumanizing experience, we were made to feel that everything we did was wrong. We were flagged for speaking kindly, not being distant, and for actually trying to connect with the kids. They teach you to think these are savages who have no family, or home training. That they will be out to dominate the classroom, if you don’t maintain control at all times. Being that strict goes against my very nature. Not to mention that we are adults who were being treated like children in a bootcamp. I
It was only after I read the fine print, and found out that if you stayed longer than a few weeks, a private college in our state was actually going to CHARGE you as if you spent the summer actually taking masters level teaching classes, on campus to the tune of about 2k! Such a scam. That we would have been required to pay back with student loans! It is by far a cult like experience, with a strong undertone, of ‘slave-master’ mentality. I am sorry I didn’t find these posts sooner! Now I am in a Masters program at a college, where I will actually learn the art of teaching. That was the worst experience of my life as an adult!
Strongly disagree. Halfway through my first school year and in the midst of the academy program. I love my kids and I feel like my training has prepared me in every way to be successful in the classroom.
MMM – Since you’re in the minority at the moment, could you please elaborate? I’d appreciate a more balanced discussion or at the very least welcome differing opinions.
What aspects of your training have proven useful, even necessary? Were any parts of your training not particularly useful or effective? How is your classroom method different from other successful, more traditional teachers?
If you’ve got positive aspects to share, please elaborate.
Also, MMM, what is your ethnicity? (Asking because of previous comments from others above.)
Welp, u guys have officially scared me! I just was accepted into the DC TNTP and my major concern was the 4k tuition, but now I’m reconsidering.
There are great traditional programs that won’t cost a fortune. The Urban teacher project is a good hybrid between the two, and professors from local universities teach the classes. Catholic University in DC has a program that is barely more than the non-accredited programs (and you can use financial aid since it is accredited) and is a great degree that allows you to teach while you pursue it. You have to wonder why these more “traditional” but practical options are buried under the hype of alternative (accredited) programs…
Searched Urban Teacher Project and TNTP was the third result. I suspect it’s a matter of advertising budget. Seems TNTP is so well known due to aggressive marketing efforts.
Thanks for mentioning those other programs.
As I read these reviews, I am beyond hesitate. I have applied to multiple teaching fellowships and in the process of interviewing over the next couple of weeks. I have my interview for TNTP later this evening actually. I try not to take what I see online to heart because it is so easy to have information falsified. In this instance I question why so many would take the time to bash one org so maybe it really is some truth to it all. Being from Chicago and having so much criticism for our neighborhoods I am concerned about programs like this. It is my last goal to ostracize and demonize my fellow minorities. I can see how many of the teachers from TFA, TNTP, AUSL and other similar teaching fellowships are the White Knights (White “savior” teachers)… I was not accepted into TFA previously but many my peers who were White student leaders on campus in business and pol sci majors got the positions. Many of them already have changed careers. I viewed it as them getting their charity out of the way early. I see the injustice the education system already does for impoverished students but to have “psuedo savior” companies coming in to offer the best alternative really concerns me. I am considering just going for the traditional 2 year masters program where I can be best prepared because I want this to be my career and grow with time. Makes me question if good is even possible in our society anymore.
A lot of decisions need to be made quick.
WOW!!!
I feel like this just saved me from making a VERY big mistake. I appreciate your honest reviews.
I have my first phone interview with the Georgia TNTP organization today, but after reading this, I am a little concerned. I really got into it because I need a job right out of college, but I may need to reconsider. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. For those of you that had good experiences, thank you too!
Hey, I’ve applied to the GA one as well. I’m a bit confused though. Does the program cost at all at anypoint in time or do they compensate? I’ve read somewhere that it cost and elsewhere that they pay you during the training and of course when you’re placed in the classroom…do you know??
This is my question as well.
As a newly recruited Fellow, it’s been interesting for me to read the comments here. While I respect the experiences of those who have posted here, I would point out that we’ve heard from nine people who were unhappy with the program, and two who were happy with it. This is out of 24, 050 people who have been trained through TNTP. I think it would be better to ask your local program how many from the 2012 finished their first year of teaching, to read the required text in its entirety and watch the videos (not a long read), and to get in touch with some current Fellows in your program. This seems like a small investment of time given the magnitude of the decision. Good luck and best wishes for 2014 to all who have responded here.
I am currently in FWTF. I am a black woman and I have no complaints. I have one of the highest scores in my cohort and I also maintain a great relationship with my students. I found a balance. PST was difficult but that was to be expected. Teaching was worth every moment of exhaustion. I left my profession in medicine and have not regretted it.
In order to be successful, you must be on time, be prepared and take a few steps away from your comfort zone. I’m halfway through my first year and the people who complained the entire summer and those who gave minimal effort are no longer with us. I am making a difference. I see the impact when my kids score better on the curriculum based assessments than veteran teachers. The techniques work. I am not a slave driver and I have a classroom packed during lunch because kids want to know more.
Although some have a horrific experience, that does not belong to every individual going through the program. Just pray about it and ask God to lead you to your calling. Teaching is mine.
Can you elaborate a little bit more about your experience? I’m suppose to start the program in June and would like more information. Thank you.
Thank you for for this
Why are some programs higher than other? Like Chicago is higher than New York, Rhode Island and DC
I wish I knew. Are you talking about programs that all utilize the TNTP Academy?
I was accepted into the Chicago Teaching Fellows, but a friend who used to direct another (now defunct) alternative certification program asked me a very wise question…the TNTP Academy tuition in Chicago is around $11,000 for two years, but the Americorps award that we receive cannot be applied to that “tuition”. So although it may be a valid teacher preparation program, it isn’t an actual graduate or undergraduate program. At this point, I have decided to spend (well, borrow) the $20,000 or so necessary to pursue certification in a more traditional setting. Although it will take me longer this way, I feel better about it.
Do you mean for the TNTP Academy? I wondered that too.
I got accepted to the Chicago Teaching Fellows, but the “Academy” is what’s holding me back. It’s $11,000 with zero college credit…so I’m leaning more towards going via a more traditional process. I could do Indy TF, but their teachers make $32K…can’t live on it.
I’m interested in joining the Chicago team but the reviews are per each’s own experience. Aside from the 11k tuition fee, is there a steady salary? I
You get a standard Chicago Public Schools teacher’s salary once the school year starts (and assuming that you are able to obtain your own position–they don’t “get” you the job, you have to look for one), but nothing until then. Chicago Public Schools pay decently…something like $48k to start.
So I just completed my information and the application and before I sent them my 30$ I decided to do some research. Has anyone completed the Arizona school? The reason I ask is because I am interested in working in Norther Arizona and specifically with the Native American community. I myself am Indian and would love to know more about the training, do they train you with the Phoenix group? That seems like it would make no sense, glad I did stumble across this page though before sending in the 30$
I have applied to the AZ group and have an interview tomorrow. But I am now SO skeptical about going any further. There is no way that I will be “beaten into submission” military-style, nor do I want that for any student. I am very concerned about the racial issues mentioned here. I think I will just not go through with the interview. Any thoughts from anyone?
Hello! I’m a current AZ Fellow, and have visited the reservation districts that TNTP works with in NE Arizona.The Pre-Service Training is in Phoenix. They house you in a dorm at ASU. Then in August you start teaching at your site, working with a mentor and coach.
I could not agree more. I really wanted to approach this program but am quite upset with the way in which they handled my interview process. I am a Stanford Graduate in Math and I told them up front that I had a Drug charge 12 years ago. They pushed me to apply even though I was very apprehensive due to my past conviction. I was up front and honest from the very first conversation as I did not want to go through the process to be denied two months later (which actually happened). If it was due to my qualifications I would understand the denial, but it was because of the charge. I have completely changed my life since this charge that happened when I was 19 years old, but they did not seem to want to work with me at all in following my passion. I thought this was the route to take because they work with low income high risk students and I thought my experience would translate well. I am just upset cause I would have tried another route if they were not so focused on churning such a high number of applications.
I have just applied to the AZ Fellows and am now very concerned about it. These comments are very disturbing, and leave a bad feeling. Does anyone know a site where reviews of TNTP are available…including those of educators and school districts, if that’s even possible?
Hi, Brad. I was accepted to AZ fellows in December, and am glad I was. The program staff have been incredibly friendly, helpful, and respectful. I’ve read the primary course text, and disagree with the characterizations of it on this blog. There are no doubt problems with the TNTP entrepeneurial model (I’ve blogged about it myself). But I don’t have any problems with the training (so far) or placements, and I’ve talked in person with Fellows who are currently teaching in Arizona. They are loving and caring teachers and not martinets. I’m glad you’re doing your homework. Keep researching. But without discounting the experiences described here, this is a blog devoted to bad experiences with the interview/training process, so you won’t find balance here (that’s not a bad thing). No teacher training program will fit everybody, as we have seen. I also want to express my gratitude to Diane Ravitch, who speaks with conviction and knowledge, and has allowed the comments section to be a forum for all perspectives. You could get in touch with me on my Facebook page: Steven Davis, Seattle Washington.
I just applied for next years program. I guess if this is true I won’t even be accepted since I stressed the need to understand every child’s own personal background and building relationships with the families. If they are indeed teaching kids thoughtless obedience then I for sure will not be accepted and would not want to be. They would be stupid not to being that I have experience as a non teaching license special education paraprofessional in main stream classrooms of Minneapolis.
Dustin,
I stressed in my essay that it was important to understand the children’s backgrounds and their family and if they are having difficulty grasping the content to meet individually with the students. I also mentioned this in my phone interview. I was accepted into the TNTP Arizona program with Steve. They are not wanting to teaching children thoughtless obedience. Actually, the techniques and training they provide is based on Doug Lemov’s work. Youtube him. He actually has given lectures at Harvard on his work. There is a videotape of one of his lectures at Harvard. He basically used math to find teachers who have beaten the odds in low-income, high needs areas and have children who score well consistently across the board. He then observed these teachers in these classes and found things that each of these have in common that produce good results. One such example is cold calling. This is essentially calling on a student that doesn’t necessarily have their hand raised. This encourages all students to participate and to be engaged in the activity. Another person enrolled in the program is a TA and they actually use his methods at the school she works for and she says it has tremendous success. So, don’t let bad reviews discourage you.
Well, I’m confused about the cost. Are we expected to pay TNTP before we are hired by a school district?
In the AZ program, tuition is due October 1 (either lump sum or installments). The hiring season begins in the spring. So you would begin paying the tuition after being hired (assuming that you are hired). But other states are different, no doubt. Check on the website for the state that interests you.
Well, I’m confused. Are we expected to pay TNTP before we are hired by a school district?
No, you don’t pay TNTP the full amount before you actually start teaching in a school. I know that each state is a little different in other costs though. In AZ, we are required to pay $100 for pre-service training materials, you have to pay for the SEI class that is required for all teachers in the state of Arizona ($283 total), you have to take whatever content exam your particular state requires ($95 a piece in AZ), fingerprint clearance is required ($65), and then whatever 3 copies of your transcript will costs. These are costs that have to be paid before you can start pre-service training. However, the TNTP fee is not due until October, giving you plenty of time to have several weeks at your job before paying. It also can be made in a lump sum, 12 month payment plan, or a 16 month payment plan. Each location has a different fee. For example, NOLA is $4,000 and AZ is $6,000. However, costs before starting your job vary on your locations requirements.
I was accepted into the TNTP Arizona program with Steve. They are not wanting to teaching children thoughtless obedience. Actually, the techniques and training they provide is based on Doug Lemov’s work. Youtube him. He actually has given lectures at Harvard on his work. There is a videotape of one of his lectures at Harvard. He basically used math to find teachers who have beaten the odds in low-income, high needs areas and have children who score well consistently across the board. He then observed these teachers in these classes and found things that each of these have in common that produce good results. One such example is cold calling. This is essentially calling on a student that doesn’t necessarily have their hand raised. This encourages all students to participate and to be engaged in the activity. Another person enrolled in the program is a TA and they actually use his methods at the school she works for and she says it has tremendous success. So, don’t let bad reviews discourage you. Research the program and the text and the foundation for these methods, talk to current fellows, and talk to the enrollment coordinator like Steve said and make the decision for yourself.
My main worry is getting hired after the summer training? Do most people succeed in finding a job? I’d be moving several hours away from where I went to college and away from my family with only minimal financial support. Not being hired by the fall isn’t an option for me.
CB, all of the Arizona program participants who have sought employment have found it, for at least the last two years. But you are responsible for doing your own job search. Nothing is guaranteed. You should probably talk with the staff at the program that interests you.
Well, My God! I was in the process of applying to the TNTP Georgia Fellows but all the negative comments have me rethinking my decision. I’m just speechless!
I think a lot of these comments stem from the differences in the way they must do training in that city. For example I am a paraprofessional Special Education Assistant (SEA) at Minneapolis public schools. I am applying for teaching fellows Chicago. School districts in different states are very different. An African American SEA transferred to the Atlanta, Georgia school district to move back with her sister. She came back to Minneapolis a year later because she hated the backwards teaching methods compared to Minneapolis so there are huge differences state by state. TNTP probably has to conform somewhat to the different states requirements.
I think a lot of these comments stem from the differences in the way they must do training in that city. For example I am a paraprofessional Special Education Assistant (SEA) at Minneapolis public schools. I am applying for teaching fellows Chicago. School districts in different states are very different. An African American SEA transferred to the Atlanta, Georgia school district to move back with her sister. She came back to Minneapolis a year later because she hated the backwards teaching methods compared to Minneapolis so there are huge differences state by state. TNTP probably has to conform somewhat to the different states requirements.
I was just informed that they did not choose me. Thank God! Because I really care about the students. I have been a substitute in high needs schools for the last five years and I have a Master’s degree and thought that I would try my hands as a full time teacher.
My first program of study was eduction so I had already completed the majority of the classes required for becoming an elementary teacher. I am appalled at what I have just read and really feel as though I was not chosen because they could sense from my application that I cared about the students. I put a great deal of research into answering the questions correctly and I know that my answers were well written.
Unfortunately the type of attitude towards the students are very typical, I see it all the time. I wont say that the students do not need some major help with discipline and instruction. But believe it or not the students are very bright. Well I was a tad bit disappointed upon receiving a negative reply but I now think that it was for the best.
T. Brown,
I feel that many of us who are accepted into the program might be offended at your implication that we were chosen because we don’t care about the students. I assure you that each of us care greatly about the education of students. We all put a great deal of thought and research into our questions.
If you read teach like a champion by Doug Lemov I think it will change your opinion about this program focusing only on discipline. Actually, most of the program is what to do to avoid actually discipling the children. It focuses a lot on giving instruction related to the common core. It also STRESSES that all students are very bright regardless of circumstances such as poverty and the location they live. It also stresses the importance of high standards and letting your students know that 100% of them are expected to pass the class and do well. Does this sound like discipline to you? To me, that sounds like encouraging your students to do their very best and knowing that you are in it to help them.
I”m sorry you didn’t get in, but that doesn’t mean the program is bad. You must keep in mind that depending on when you applied, the spots are rolling and they only keep accepting people until the spots are filled. You could have applied after they were full in the subject and location you had selected. There are many factors besides just your answers to the essays. I wish you the best of the luck and I’m sorry you didn’t get in. Maybe you can reapply next year!
We all start teaching with the perspective that we know; which is our own experience in school. I personally did not achieve as well because of a lack of connection with my community and social/emotional issues. I grew up in an extremely upwardly mobile, aggressively individualistic town. I quit Teaching Fellows because the program I was in thinks bullying kids into achievement works by applying individualism into teaching. This is the mentality that I suffered through personally and not an environment where I achieve. I strongly feel that many aspects of individualism puts the wrong emphasis on what we want to promote as a society. Maybe some people do achieve from being bullied but many don’t. Their bullying does feel like they don’t care. In the end I feel like these people who think bullying children into achievement don’t have the empathy or the skills to connect well into a society and should not be educators. They have the skills to collect material things. They don’t have the same innate survival skill to care about people and the people who do are marginalized. What we need to work on is building communities and social emotional issues first and then academic achievement will follow. I do think people need to be guided and pushed but not bullied.
I have many highly intelligent, top educators with experiences very applicable to public education but Teaching Fellows don’t generally chose people that will question their techniques. I have taught internationally and with teachers trained under UN training programs based on empirical research. Some how I made it in their program but I quit because I didn’t agree with their lack of emphasis on community and especially their distorted idea that bullying will create better education. Plus, they just were very unclear about many things like what our degree would be and the general focus of our grad school program. After I quit the program I found out the two highly respected, retired NorthWestern professors had dropped out. They want the naive ones that don’t know better, are resistant to being bullied and can memorize their rules.
Hello,
I recently got accepted to TNTP Teaching Fellow. Is it possible if I can ask you questions regarding to this job offer. Feel free to send me a message!
Paul,
What questions do you have? What program did you get into?
I live in Georgia. I must have inquired about the TNTP program but don’t recall when. My most recent background is in Information Technology with many years in training and mentoring programmers/developers, project managers, managers, data analysts, business managers and similar. There have been extended deadlines for at least 6 months now. Notices state that there is a final deadline, then after this deadline it is extended two weeks. Either the candidates applying are not what they want or there are not enough applicants. Maybe it is something else but I do not know the reasons.
As a fellow in Indianapolis, almost finished with my first year of teaching, I could not disagree more with virtually every comment in this post. A potential fellow emailed me asking if this is really what the program is like and I regret that there is information on the internet such as this, dissuading people to join the teaching fellows. Indianapolis has wonderful, incredibly talented and experienced trainers and coaches working on their staff. Yes, we worked long days which included teaching, being in class to learn strategies that allowed us to reach out students and lesson planning at home but it was worth it. All first year teachers are inexperienced but this program and especially the education we receive (I am pursuing a MAT through Marian University through the teaching fellows program, the program only costs $7500 – incredibly cheap for a master’s program, $5550 of which is covered by the grant.) and I cannot say how grateful I have been and how much I have improved and continue to improve since the summer training.
Our summer training was rigorous but in no way are even the “tactics” as this writer put it, “militaristic.” They are meant to control behavior and uphold high expectations. I assume that if someone were to follow through, as I have, with these strategies, aimed not at “controlling unruly students,” but at maintaining high expectations to push students to achieve, they would see the value of them. The summer training was honestly the hardest thing I had done until I began actually teaching but it has been the most rewarding experience of my life. Coaching throughout the year and during the summer, though intimidating, is what it takes to make us better than first year teachers and in no way are they trying to stifle you or break you. Had the summer training not been so difficult and the classroom experiences during the summer just as excruciating I would not have been prepared to serve this year. It was hard and hard is necessary.
You cannot truly understand the achievement gap until you are in the middle of the mess, trying to make it right. I am closing the achievement gap and I couldn’t have done it without the training I have received through the teaching fellows program.
I hope that anyone reading this gives the program a chance and does not let one terrible experience and inaccurate ideas of the program’s objective lead them away from such a wonderful and fulfilling opportunity. I have not paid the teaching fellows a dime and they have given me a priceless trade.
Katherine
So, what they are suggesting is that unless a potential teacher subscribes to their boot camp techniques, they are not qualified to work in the low income community? Hog Wash!! They need to be stopped, what about all the money the universities are charging people to go the traditional routes? They are rendering Teacher Education at the Universities, obsolete. These groups are full of it. But eventually, it is the DOE who is going to have to answer to the public for these questionable techniques. I just completed an application yesterday and am now trying to come up with ways to withdraw it and follow the traditional avenue to becoming certified. SHAMEFUL, IS WHAT THEY ARE!!!
Mekaela,
I am a professional and have raised test scores at my school by 20% this year through the highly-recognized Teaching Fellows program in Indianapolis. I am proud of what I do and do not associate with people who are not professionals. I am sorry that you feel so strongly and negatively about a program you know very little about. It seems that it would not be a good fit for you but to suggest you understand the program fully without having even entered it is simply false advertising.
The techniques we learned in pre-service training are not the basis of our teaching and I can say that though I use some of the techniques they are certainly not “boot camp-like” nor do they discourage our students from learning. I will let you rest with what seems like misinformation and a tad bit of bitterness directed at other educators who have had success through the program and I truly wish you luck in pursing a career as an educator but I will suggest that you approach conversations with educators from a more open-minded standpoint. We can learn a lot from each other when we simply listen to what other people have to say. Collaboration is one of the best tools we have. Good luck in your teaching.
It’s great if you had a good experience with TNTP. There is definately a corralation between those who are recievign a masters degree and their satisfaction with the program and those who are going through the TNTP academy. But, realize many people on this blog are teachers who are also addressing the achievement gap-so we do get it. Some of us actually lived it ourselves and are not just jumping into someone else’s experience. We have a great concern about people entering into a system that is difficult for the most prepaired and experienced and are following 1,2,3 steps. There are just so many situations that one book can’t prepair you to address. There is also a huge corralation between TNTP, union busting, and school privatization–it’s alarming. Again, I am glad you had a good experience. However, there are a lot of people coaching in TNTP who are new to teachign adults, new to being in positions of authority, and are very abusive with that power. There are many, many stories of this experience. There are also great “hybrid” programs through universities and organizations such as the Urban Teacher Project that are not as well publicised. Additionally, most TNTP alum who stay in teaching go on to get masters degrees after the fact. What does that say? That they need more then TNTP gives them. For those considering TNTP, you should consider all the options, consider what people say from the areas you are looking at, and consider your own life experiences.
As one who walked away from TNTP mid-year and elected to join a university based hybrid program, I can tell you that rigor and cruelty are two different things. My TNTP peers all regretted not following me. And I scored Highly effective my first year of teaching. Sometimes you need to be built up, not pulled down. You need to know why to do things as much as “what to do.”
Do your research, consider your options, and before you make a cost based decision, make sure you consider grants, the lifts in pay you get from a real masters degree, and what you will really learn to bring to your students.
I went to a school district on my own and they offered me a position and encouraged me to leave the Teaching Fellows for a local community college internship program that is less expensive and offers financial aid. The administrators at my district said that teachers who come out of the community college are generally much better than fellows. I had prior knowledge about this cc program but stayed with TNTP because I thought it had prestige. In reality, it has the opposite of prestige, like have University of Phoenix on your resume. TNTP will tell you how selective they are, but that is manufactured, and administrators aren’t taking the bait. Much of the TNTP coursework sells their brand real hard, seeking to make fanboys of fellows. Also, there is no transparency. If you are a fellow, you can only contact one person. I can’t call my site director at all. All of my dealings with them have seemed shady.
All in all, states that allow teachers to attain internship credentials generally have many ways to attain one. If you have confidence and some experience, you won’t need TNTP to get into a classroom.
Thanks! I have only one other course to take this summer and sit for the Teacher’s exam. I have been at UTEP for a year, taking the courses and I applied TNTP and awaiting their decision. I was told I had to work for one semester as an intern without pay fulltime. Need money while working. I do think that I would rather work in private industry and save my money. So am seriously considering withdrawing my application at TNTP due to the fact that I think these techniques will interfere with my health. I just don’t think I’m cut out for such boot camp like techniques but can do teaching, just fine. If nothing else, they are discriminating against the disabled for no reason. I could see it if we were soldiers going to war; but these folks are crazy and I expect they will eventually be challenged in court. Thanks for all the honest post. God Bless all of you. And, Shame on the rest of you for supporting such gestapa techniques.
I got booted from NTF and wish I had done more research before investing all that I did to get here. I was extremely unhappy with the training experience from the beginning but continued to push myself to continue. In the end they asked me to leave. But I’m interested in knowing about your experience with going to a school district on your own. I’m trying to pick myself up from this experience. It has terribly eroded my sense of well being.
Hello,
I was recently accepted to the TNTP Fort Worth program as a social studies teacher. I was wondering if anyone of you have gone through the program and could offer me some advice. I received the documents and after going over them, I am concerned with with the fact that after completing the summer institute, you are responsible for finding your own job placement. As a social studies teacher, I am not sure there is such a high demand for social studies teachers. Did anyone experience difficulty in finding a teaching position? I think it is a bit of a risk to accept the offer and relocate for three months without pay if it is not a sure thing.
Thanks in advance!
Me too, Hillary! I’m trying to decide whether to take this as well. They did say 100% of fellows were hired last year.
I was also accepted to the TNTP Forth Worth program as a social studies teacher like Hilary and am highly concerned about gaining employment in the fall and also going without a paycheck the whole summer.
I know that everyone in the Indianapolis Teaching Fellows program was accepted. Schools here actually seek us out and the program does EVERYTHING it can to get someone placed. They work tirelessly to make sure you are employed. As for the not working during the summer, it is a sacrifice you have to decide upon. Are you willing to do it? That’s really up to you.
Fellows are not usually placed in schools with privileged, well-behaved children. We are placed where there is the greatest need, typically in urban areas.What some people fail to realize is that the students in these areas are from “at risk” backgrounds and the ONE thing they usually lack is structure and discipline. You can care and be the best teacher in the world, but if your classroom is chaos, how would you teach them anything?
The classroom management exercises we learned do not have to be presented to students in such a military fashion and are often fun for them when implemented properly. It’s all in your approach.
I completely agree, Katrina. Once you start using them you see how much better a classroom runs and how much less time is wasted reexplaining things, trying to control behavior outbursts and off-task behavior.
You guys that say they are teaching us to “bully” kids are idiots. Unless they are teaching us to grab kids and shove them against lockers like they did pre 70’s I really don’t believe you. I worked in a school in north Minneapolis that did not have any staff “bullying” kids as a education support professional. They had the worst discipline policy. I was breaking up about 5 fights a day at recess. These kids lack discipline and need structure. Yes they also need space to do their thing sometimes but to a limit. A referee does not give a kid a yellow card or a red card in a soccer game because they are trying to “bully” the players. They are doing it because not doing so would make it unfair and would put them in danger of harming themselves or others as well as causing the referee to loose complete control of the game. I support a classroom that has special education kids with autism in it in the main stream class. The teacher just ignores behaviors that go on in the classroom because she does not want to deal with it. Instead she ends up just using the classroom microphone and sometimes yells into it over other kids. Maybe a few of the good white female students are learning, but the rest are not. Of course this lady doesn’t actually want to teach 5th graders anything. She has just been in it for 9 years in hopes to be selected for a principle position, but she never will because they come to observe her classroom and see the chaos Go sit in a classroom like that and then tell me that TNTP needs to stop “bullying” kids. I’m glad I have been accepted to go teach in Chicago and am looking forward to what they have to offer me.
Guess what else this teacher does not do? She does not tell kids what to do next step by step like TNTP seems to emphasize. She will switch subjects without having a clear transition and then yell at kids like WHY DON’T HALF OF YOU HAVE YOUR MATH NOTEBOOKS OUT? One kid, who I don’t even support, whispers to me “It is still in my locker what should I do?” “Quietly go get it,” I say. She makes them keep the second half of the day materials in there lockers and does not seem to give a cue half way through the day to go get it. It’s May and she still hasn’t quite got that this is an issue. Maybe their suppose to do it on the way back from lunch or automatically realize that they have switched subjects without a clear indication? I am not quite sure. It is teachers like her that I am hoping to replace as a teaching fellow. Maybe Minneapolis needs TNTP to do the same thing here.
What happens if you do not pass the content test by the pre-service training?
At least in Indianapolis they gave us MANY months to pass the test. They told us it HAD TO BE DONE by a certain date but once we were in and working we had several chances as long as the program knew we were signing up for them. I passed the four I took by August, before school started but I know people in their second year that still haven’t passed the Praxis.
Don’t stress too much but definitely study and try to pass it as soon as possible. The summer training is very intensive and there is virtually no time to do anything else, especially study, and the school year will likely be really busy as well so try to get it done as soon as you can. There are many study guides available. I took multiple exams so I can potentially teach several different things. As long as you’re comfortable with content and the test material you should be fine.
Is it guaranteed that the fellows will get a grants through Americorps to help with tuition? I’m a tad apprehensive because of the financial situation.
Wow. I can’t believe the amount of emotion-based (versus fact-based) whining, and drawing of conclusions based on that whining.
No one ever said that TNTP’s program was the only way to do it. Is it a way? Yes. Is it based on proven techniques? Yes. Does it require holding both the students and the fellows to very high expectations? Yes. Does this require discipline? You betcha! Is it tough? Very much so.
As a retired Marine officer (20 years), I can tell you that it isn’t about treating the kids like they are in the military, and I assume from my limited experience with dealing with convicts and correctional officers I have known that it isn’t like prison either. (I’d welcome the author of the original post to tell us about her military and prison experience.) What is looks like, to me, is creating classrooms full of college-bound students from whom much is expected and much is achieved.
I’m not an experienced teacher, and I am just starting my summer Pre-Service Training. So I can’t tell you about everything I’ll learn, see, hear, say, and do during the program. But what I can tell you about is the unwavering commitment to the kids in whose classrooms we will ultimately teach. I expect to be challenged rigorously, and I expect some of my colleagues to break under the pressure (or because they just don’t like the program). But I know that I am in the hands of people (not gods who function without error or fatigue) who are completely dedicated to providing teachers who will close the achievement gap for legions of kids who have been marginalized by the current system.
Is the program perfect. Nope; none are. Is it for you? I don’t know. I’m not you. But before you make your mind up based on the whining of those who could not hack the rigor, get some accurate information. And whatever program you may choose, if you are not willing to work HARD and put the kids needs above your own (even if they need toughness and discipline), then do us all a favor and PLEASE stay out of teaching.
Theresa, I appreciate your sharing the challenges of the Teaching Fellows program.
I am currently training as a teacher coach in the program and am being asked to train teachers in many of the Teach Like A Champion techniques that you mention. Some of the “TLaC” methods are pretty standard in many classrooms, but some are reprehensible and have been denounced by a significant amount of research and best practice. The training I am going through to help new teachers in the fellows is so antithetical to my own pedagogical background that I am extremely near to quitting the gig altogether, although I am holding out until I can meet the teachers I am supposed to work with to actually give them some useful guidance through what they will ACTUALLY be dealing with in their future classrooms. The Teaching Fellows are teaching and advocating for methods which are extremely common in charter schools, but rarely seen in public schools. This is a concerning disconnect to me.
I know and work with many extremely talented and successful teachers who are former Fellows, who thrived in spite of the varying quality of training they received. Based on my experiences with these former fellows, I was hoping to help facilitate the experience of new teachers in my urban school system. But I do agree with you that it seems like the Teaching Fellows is setting many of its candidates up for failure. It seems that the larger harbinger of one’s success in this program is the individual’s sheer will to persevere through a great deal of challenge and engage in a great deal of self-directed learning.
Just an FYI: the Arizona cohort (I’m a Fellow) is doing its student teaching in three schools, two of which are public schools (not public charter).
Can you refer me to some sources for research and best practices that contradict TLaC methods? I appreciate different points of view.
It sounds like you may not need to be a coach with TNTP. I’m currently in PST and with my coaches help and TLAC, my students have gone from all failing scienceover the course of the school year, to each one having more than an 80% as far as grades go. I’ve also been told by the cocooperating teacher at the school and the principal that I’m better than a 4th year teacher. I owe this to TNTP. TNTP is about 100% and positive framing most of all. That means you have 100% of your students engaged by group work, moving throughout the classroom, and participating in classroom discussion. Can students learn if they are not engaged? Would you want to sit in a classroom listening to the teacher lecture all day if given a choice?. Positive framing is about focusing on the positive not the negative. Mastering this technique means you challenge your kids, “can I get 100% of hands up?” Or “I see 5 hands, can I.get 3 more?” The kids respond to that, and love it. Another part of mastering it is talking aspirations, reminding them every day they’re going to succeed at their dreams. So, tell me, in a high needs, highly challenging school ppopulation where many of these children never hear that kind of talk how is that like prison or boot camp? Students respond to the expectations you set for them. If you set the bar high, you will get high performing students. My class is a learning happy class, it’s not all SLANT and do-it again. Side note, slant is only used when you’re going to say something very important or giving directions. My kids laugh and we have fun. We had a donut party on Thursday. The difference between my class is there are expectations to meet because they can and will succeed. They’ve risen to them time and time again. For people who disagree with these techniques, step into a TLAC class in a high needs area and a non-TLAC class in the same area. Compare grades. I promise you will see a difference.
As for being a coach, we TNTP fellows deserve the best coach possible and someone who believes in the techniques that can help us.
Paige, you are clearly passionate about TNTP and TLAC. Your classroom sounds very successful, and that’s fantastic news. I am not going to respond to most of the points in your post because it seems you responded from a defensive stance of TNTP and TLAC rather than reading what I actually wrote or expressed concerns about. You make assumptions about what techniques I have aversion to, which are actually not what you listed. If you wish, you might read my response to Jim where I list research-based methods to address the areas of my concern. I wish you all the best in your continued teaching practice.
Jen,
Which TLAC techniques do you consider “reprehensible?” The problem that I have is that there as many theories on education as there are theorists. And we can clearly see that US education, far too long left in the hands of the advocates that push for “self esteem building” and relaxed classroom discipline, has been on a long slide into oblivion. This is especially true for the under-served communities into which TNTP places their fellows (full disclosure: I am in the midst of my pre-service training as a Georgia Teaching Fellow). That all said, I am very open to/interested in any fact-based (versus emotion based, politically motivated, or political correct) argument demonstrating a technique is not valid.
Jim, I appreciate your fact-driven pursuit of strong technique. I wrote my post after a training session with TNTP in which I felt deeply concerned about some information that was presented to us. Hence the word “reprehensible,” which I mis-directed at TLAC specifically. Most of the techniques in TLAC are very basic, classroom management-101 practices that are used effectively by many great teachers. I have no objection to many of them; I use many in my classroom to strong effect, and I wish I had learned them as a beginning teacher.
My concerns lie in the following three areas: 1) our TNTP fellows are being placed this summer at non-charter public schools that generally do not employ SLANT. However, I am being asked to rate my new teachers on their success on implementing this strategy within a very short time frame. SLANT can be difficult to implement within a school culture that does not do this in other classrooms, so I have reservations about having to rate an incoming teacher on a technique that they are seeing modeled via videos from charter schools where children are indoctrinated with this technique. My rating on their using this method or not then impacts their ability to get a job. This seems quite unfair to them.
2) I am seeing many of my co-coach-trainees use a technique of snapping in the faces of people (when we are practicing with each other) which they claim to use regularly in their classrooms. This practice is not explicitly advocated by TNTP, but it is being openly used in our coach training as a way of getting attention. No trainers are addressing this, which is a tacit way of saying it’s “ok.” I personally find the snapping used in this way to be a reprehensible practice, and the fact that this is being modeled to new teachers is concerning to me. I can try to rummage some fact-based research on why snapping at students can be problematic, but that is more of a philosophical and value issue, which you have requested not to read.
3) I am a veteran literacy teacher, I read widely on literacy research, and do active classroom inquiry on many literacy practices. The day I wrote my early post my group was being instructed to use “Control the Game” as a comprehension strategy, which rankled my ire. I don’t know of ANY empirical data that shows round robin reading fused with cold calling improves comprehension. It is a classroom management technique, and at best, may assist with oral fluency, which is quite different than comprehension.
For a tip-of-the-iceberg quick list on research to support this, here are some resources:
Michael F. Opitz and Timothy V. Rasinski, Good-Bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies
This gives a concise summary without reading the entire book: http://www.oswego.org/files/49/Small%20Group%20Reading%20Instruction%20booklet.docx.pdf
A research-backed guide on a much more effective comprehension approach, by Fountas and Pinnell
Click to access GR_Research_Paper_2010.pdf
Also, read anything by Nancie Atwell, Lucy Calkins, Kelly Gallagher, or Kylene Beers.
It’s interesting that you are interested in research, Jim, because I wonder if you’ve noticed that TLAC offers no empirical or peer-reviewed research references in the book? It’s a collection of qualitative data that Lemov has gathered from his observations of other teachers, mostly within his system of charter schools. There’s some bias there.
And finally, yes, there ARE tons of theories on education. Just as there are many different students, teachers, and schools with differing philosophies on how best to educate children. I don’t espouse any one right way, but research-backed methods certainly help the cause of some theories over others.
I wish all of you on this blog the best in your continued inquiry into best practices in teaching and learning.
Jen, I find your response interesting in several ways.Your first two concerns are not about TLAC, but about how coaching is being implemented in your program. And you describe Control the Game as “Round Robin fused with Cold Calling.” I’m a Fellow in training this summer, and Control the Game was never presented to us this way. In training, we were taught that Round Robin is ineffective from both a comprehension (as you say) and classroom management perspective. Control the Game was presented as a Student Engagement strategy, as it is in Lemov. So it sounds like there are many more areas of agreement than disagreement, and that you have some legitimate concerns with how your particular program is presenting TLAC techniques, and other techniques that are not part of TLAC. So good luck with the training this summer, and I hope that you are able to work on magic on your fellow coaches. Post up some scholarly critiques of Lemov when you find them, and I’ll do the same.
Jen,
Thanks for your response.
As to SLANT, I think it is a great acronym to remind students of what they should be doing when receiving instruction, but is not effective when overused (“I need you in SLANT” as opposed to a specific direction like “Pencils down and track me”). I agree that it would be difficult to use in a school that hasn’t internalized it into the culture, but I think that a teacher needs to take responsibility for his/her own classroom culture as well. So if SLANT works (teach it the first day or two, put a poster on the wall, and refer back to it as you reinforce expectations) for someone, then it is a handy tool to have in your toolbox..
I agree with Stefano in regards to Control the Game- pure student engagement (which I have used in my PST with good effect)- but certainly not a comprehension tool. For my evaluation on it, I used Poe’s “The Raven” and achieved decent success in getting my fellow fellows (love saying that) to get the rhythm of the poem. In class when I’ve used it, it helps get the students on the same page and involved, but I follow it up rapidly with a dissection of the text to look for meaning via context clues. I’ve not heard anyone in my PST claim that it is effective for comprehension.
I absolutely could not agree with you more in terms of the snapping thing. I told my instructors/coaches as much when they showed us a video clip of a teacher snapping to gain attention for subsequent non-verbal corrections. I think it is disrespectful and just don’t do it. Then again, as a retied Marine I have a pretty highly developed notion of giving respect to get respect, and I can understand how some teachers might think it is a good idea if it is presented as such by their coaches.
Interestingly, many of my coaches agreed with me. I don’t know where you are, but I am in Georgia Teaching Fellows in Atlanta, and the overall attitude of the coaches here is that they want us to show we can do a technique (like non-verbal corrections) but are not hung up on the specifics of what we use to do so. For instance, I use a call and response straight out of bootcamp, where I call “Eyeballs” and my students (all boys charter school) freeze, look to me, and respond “SNAP!” When I framed it as an opportunity to “wake up the classrooms on either side of us”, they were enthusiastic about it. Many of my peers couldn’t pull that off, but it works in “The Colonel’s class,” and my coaches love it.
As to the research, I don’t have the time during PST to follow up, but will be sure to do so when we finish. The problem, of course, is that some of the permissive social-engineering-driven education policies that were subject to peer-review are exactly what has lead us down the path to declining standards and the performance gap that we now have. When one’s peers are driven by pre-conceived notions, peer review isn’t worth much. I will certainly give them due diligence, but in the end I believe that each educator must actively try new techniques to find what works best for their style.
Best,
Jim
I’m not alone in my hatred of TNTP. I feel like crying everyday after the training portion of the day. I have never been apart of such a fear motivated program. They treat the fellows like morons. The coaches live in fear so they are completely ineffective. They should be called something different because I would not call this experience coaching at all. I’ve picked up my whole life and depleted my savings to come to the city I teach in. I love the kids & if I can just make it through the program I’ll be totally committed to them. I can wait to ditch all this military teach like a champion BS.
Just quit now while you’re not too far in and try to apply for jobs through the state’s alternate route program. There will still be some jobs available until probably the first week of August. It will save you a lot of sanity and will make you a better teacher. TNTP and TFA are BAD news and your traditionally-trained colleagues will make your life a living hell — if they will even speak to you.
TNTP was founded by the same clown and “Tiger Mom” wannabe (Michele Rhee) who failed at approaching her students professionally and instead put tape over their mouths to keep them quiet. That really should have been her last day, but for some reason they let her continue. Then she falsified her students’ standardized exam results and claimed to have boosted their test scores by some ungodly impossible percentage.
Her profile is typical for the likes of Teach for America: Ivy League grad from the upper-middle class with a major in government, so not even in a teaching subject. She wanted to “slum it” with some poor kids in DC for a couple of years and she taught elementary school for three years. Went to Harvard, got a degree in public policy, became the chancellor of DC Public Schools, dismissed hundreds of teachers, etc. Three years of teaching based on 5 weeks of TFA training and a degree in government made her qualified to run a school system! So yeah. Miserable, awful, pathetic excuse for a woman. Just like Wendy Kopp, she’s a capitalist-driven careerist who plays into the racist tendencies of American society: “If we can just get black kids and brown kids and poor kids to SHUT UP, then we’ll look like we’re doing our job.” Advancing them and helping them has little to do with it. They see these kids as a vehicle to make money for their organizations.
TFA and TNTP are for-profit corporations with non-profit tax status, much like Pearson, ETS, and the College Board. They receive THOUSANDS for each warm body from their organization whom they place in the public schools. Then they CHARGE thousands to fellows/interns for their training. TNTP also manages staffing for a number of large districts, such as Memphis, and so they filter the applicants in such a way that their own inexperienced, totally unqualified, and privileged fellows/residents/interns get the first jobs that are posted, followed by REAL teachers, followed by MUCH more highly qualified career-changers. If you think your colleagues don’t know about that, you’re in for a very rude awakening. But at least you’ll know why they don’t want much to do with you: Your organization is the reason their friends and colleagues lost their jobs and/or can’t find jobs, despite having more experience than you do. And let’s not forget that TFA and TNTP are more or less colluding and opening up charter schools all over the country, taking the same money as regular public schools but paying their teachers up to 35% LESS than non-charter school teachers.
Get out now and go get a teaching degree if you want to be a teacher. Don’t become a part of the systemic racism of the American education system. Choose a rural district that needs good teachers and work towards your MAT or teaching certificate through one of the universities. It’s possible, it’s cheaper, it’s a lot more rewarding, and your colleagues will respect you for going through the appropriate channels to get where you want to be.
Thanks for the strident rhetoric, hyperbole, and ad hominen attacks. I was afraid I’d stumbled upon an oasis of calm reflection and civil discourse until I read your post. Good to be reminded that this is, after all, social media. [Yes, I’m being sarcastic.]
Yes, Yes. the traditional route! THAT is the answer.
When Winston Churchill was Great Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty, he ran afoul of some admirals who represented the old guard and fought against his reforms which were upsetting their (rotten) apple cart. They too, fought for maintenance of the old traditional ways even in the face of changing norms and declining performance. Churchill’s response was that the Naval tradition of which they spoke amounted to “rum, sodomy, and the lash.” It seems to me you are relying on the traditional ways, even when that tradition amounts to ‘declining performance, low expectations, and a widening performance gap.’ Nowhere as poetic as Churchill, but facts are facts.
And playing the race card is simply ridiculous. Rhee is a minority woman, almost all of my coaches and fellow Fellows are minorities and/or women, and their level of caring for and dedication to educating children is simply beyond reproach.
As I stated earlier in the thread, TNTP is not for everyone. But the facts remain: public education in America is failing some (most often poor and minority students) of our children. What do you propose to do about it, John? Same-old same-old is not an option. And name calling and race baiting don’t seem to be working for us as a Country, much less as educators.
What is your proposed solution?
Alright, so here’s my take:
There is absolutely ZERO evidence that TNTP Fellows are more effective than teachers who go through more traditional programs. ZERO. Nada. Zilch. In fact, even Teach For America, which is actually a selective program comprised mostly of graduates of elite institutions has very little in the way of evidence to support the claim that they produce better-than-average first year teachers. Their teachers, it would seem, have students who perform slightly better on math assessments than teachers who come from traditional programs. And I do mean SLIGHTLY. (less that .2 standard deviations– hardly Stand and Deliver-type stuff) Their students perform NO better at reading — and we’re talking about the cream of the crop with TFA. There have been some other studies showing a slightly different result, but these studies are generally of dubious quality and statistical weighting. And even if TFAers DO perform a bit better that can all be chalked up to their stellar educational backgrounds more than it can whatever training they received.
When I was going through PST as a Fellow in Arizona, the program director gave some absurd statistic about how x percent of Principals claimed that Fellows were as good or better than first year teachers. (I think it was two-thirds to three quarters) It reminded me of the old statistic that the vast majority of Americans support getting rid of every member of Congress, yet, in spite of this 90+% of incumbents are elected year after year. Just because a Principal decides to send a questionnaire back to the Teaching Fellows claiming that their teacher is as good if not better than other first year teachers doesn’t make it so. There is a little something called “cognitive dissonance.” Someone who voted for a crappy Congressman 6 times in a row isn’t likely to vote for a good alternative the seventh because that would entail entertaining the idea that they were actually wrong. A Principal stuck with a crummy teacher that they were responsible for hiring isn’t going to want to admit that they made a bad hiring decision. Or they may be clouded by their personal liking of a particular fellow and overlooked their performance deficiencies. But asking for an opinion from a Principal is no substitute for ACTUAL data on teacher performance, in any event. If our objective is to really close the performance gap, then maybe we should actually start by taking a look at student performance? And if they had any such data to show to prove how good their teachers were, don’t you think they’d be showing it?
In any event the following adage holds true: claims introduced without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Show me ONE study demonstrating that students of TNTP Fellows fare better on standardized tests than students of teachers who go through traditional programs. THAT’S the only evidence that matters. But they won’t show you that evidence. And do you know why? Because there isn’t any. THEY’RE FULL OF CRAP. They masquerade as a social justice organization who is so concerned for the welfare of children that they can no longer stand idly by while these AWFUL teachers who are produced through traditional methods continue to ruin education for everyone. So they’ve decided to intervene with the commandments handed down on stone tablets by their prophet Doug Lemov and “change the game” of education.
In their view actually learning a thing or two about educational psychology and real pedagogy is a waste of time. The only thing you need to know how to do is classroom management and that will magically break down all the socio-economic barriers and institutional racism faced by these students on a daily basis and you… YOU will have proven that everyone else who teaches is absolute crap and unworthy of the paychecks they receive. Teaching students to sit up straight with their hands folded on their desks is the only thing you need to know about teaching. Everyone else who had to actually take 40+ undergraduate credits to get their license were just a bunch of saps who were too stupid to understand how easy good teaching really is. Blah blah blah.
Don’t drink the Kool Aid, guys. There are pros and cons to the Teaching Fellows program. The biggest pros are the people you meet in the program and the fact that you get to teach while earning your certificate. What’s pretty sad, however, is the fact that, at least out here in Arizona, you’re able to do that anyway pretty easily and for a lot less money through various community college programs. You just need to get hired by a district, pass the content exam, have your fingerprint card, and pass an SEI course and you can obtain your intern certificate and begin teaching while you complete ACTUAL coursework related to the field from a community college. And for A LOT less than 6 grand. Basically, the whole program is a way to siphon off your Americorps Ed Award to support people who believe that their program produces better-than-average teachers with absolutely no statistical data backing that claim up whatsoever. The management of the Arizona program is very smug and not very bright.
The unfortunate thing about teaching is that nobody really knows what makes for an effective teacher. The New York Times article on Doug Lemov and the teaching reform movement say exactly this. There are a few factors that correlate with effective teaching, but it’s not a formula that we can reproduce or teach to would-be educators. Like I said, Doug Lemov’s book is good, but no substitute for actual educational psychology and there’s no evidence that his methods produce better-than-average educators. It’s definitely a book I would recommend for first-year teachers, but, again, it’s far from all you need. I’m going to be going into next year feeling very unprepared for what awaits me and insecure about whether or not I’ll be doing a service or disservice to my students as a result of the half-assed and pricey instruction I received from the Teaching Fellows. And I know a lot of people who will be teaching next year expecting to be gods gift to high needs students who are going to be in for a rude awakening as a result of the BS this program pedals about being the best or the most effective way of training teachers. Don’t believe them. Good teachers aren’t produced in 5 weeks. Be humble.
Also, don’t buy into Michelle Rhee’s Union-busting hype either. She’s a complete dirtbag who is out to completely wreck the educational system in this country and drive down teacher wages even further, which will further deter bright and talented people from entering the profession. Just go to Huffington Post and read some of the TNTP blogs railing against pay raises for experienced teachers. It’s truly awful to have anything to do with an organization like that and I wish I had read a bit more before accepting the offer for any number of different reasons. One of the truly bizarre things I’ve seen future teachers do is to rail against their own best interest. Tenure is simply due process, not a lifetime job guarantee. Higher pay is a good thing when you’ve worked decades for a district on a salary that is only six-tenths what your average American professional makes. Don’t be a tool and don’t cannibalize your fellow educators because some slime-ball like Michelle Rhee told you to.
“Teaching students to sit up straight with their hands folded on their desks is the only thing you need to know about teaching.” That’s what you got from your PST? I’m an Arizona PST grad, as skeptical as the next guy, especially about corporate ed reform, and cautious about methods and claims. I’m not sure how much use I will make of many of the methods I learned, and I’ve been critical of aspects of AZTF on my blog. Nonetheless, your account of PST training and staff seems to me like an angry parody. I never sensed disrespect towards my non-AZTF colleagues, or felt that I was supposed to work miracles. My coaches seemed to be generally humane and dedicated individuals. Why the anger? Was your PST really that bad? Did you complete the training? No offense intended. Just trying to reconcile your account with my own recent experience.
I would teach teachers my way. I taught 37 years–Detroit kids. One more year with little kids and that was fun. Taught Alternative High School 7 years out of the 37 years in Detroit. I was awarded for Teacher Excellence. I will teach teachers if you are interested.
Are you going to be a Teaching Coach this summer or a Fellow or just commenting on the postings?
I am a product of the Nashville Teaching Fellows program (TNTP). This is now my fourth year of teaching and I can honestly say I still use many (not all) of the techniques I learned from the program. If you are not clear about expectations, routines, consequences, etc. then not a whole lot of learning will be accomplished in your classroom. I was able to raise ELA test scores significantly, but I don’t think this should be a selling point of the program. Higher test scores mean almost nothing.
It does sound terrible.I am, however,about a teacher who uses “it’s” incorrectly.
I was an Arizona Teaching Fellows cohort member for the 2014-2015 school year. The Arizona Teaching Fellows, part of The New Teacher Project, is a program designed to provide an alternate route for certification for those who have a bachelor’s degree and desire to become teachers. I moved thousands of miles in order to fulfill my desire to become a teacher and make a difference. This program claimed it could help me achieve this. They majorly failed in their promise.
First of all, I was only visited once by an actual TNTP staff member at the beginning of the year when I was still new to the job. Every other observation I received was done by proxy. A woman would come and video us at our job sites. Twice, due to scheduling conflicts, she would come at a time other than what had previously been planned, which caused extra stress for the students as well as myself. This was the first year that this alternate type of observation was used. It was also the last year, as the Arizona branch of the Teaching Fellows ended after the 2015 school year. Not only did this make our group guinea pigs, it completely changed the atmosphere of the classroom since many kids were very uncomfortable being filmed, and it created more unnecessary work for already overburdened first year teachers (we had to have all our students and their parents sign permission slips so that they could be filmed). Ergo, the program failed to uphold its promise to provide constant, immediate, in-class feedback, since they didn’t actually come to our classrooms, nor did I receive in-the-moment guidance, which would have been highly beneficial.
My principal informed me that TNTP did not communicate with him during the 2014-2015 school year as they had in previous years. He said he received large amounts of emails that were difficult to sort through, and that of these many emails, he was sent a quick blurb asking him to rate my performance as a teacher compared with other first year teachers who had received traditional training. He ranked me at a two, which signified that I was slightly below the level of a typical first year teacher. My principal informed me that he had no idea that his answer to a one-question survey would play a large factor in determining my certification. He said he felt his answer to the question bespoke more of a lack in training from the program as opposed to my inability to teach effectively. Becoming concerned, he asked if there was anything he could do to rectify the situation. When he had done his own district required principal observation of my teaching, he had ranked me as “effective,” which is the second highest ranking a teacher can receive. He later wrote a letter on my behalf to the program as part of my appeals process. It did nothing to change TNTP’s decision to deny my certification. The lack of clear communication on the part of the program to my principal played a huge role in my scoring, which in turn affected my certification.
However, the icing on the cake was when the program hosted a graduation of sorts where they invited me to participate in the festivities, leading me to believe I had indeed passed the program with my fellow friends and cohort members. The very next day, they sent the letter informing me I had not passed. I was flabbergasted, confused, and felt ill over the entire situation.
Essentially, I would advise anyone looking for alternative routes to become a certified teacher to look elsewhere. The New Teacher Project still expects me to pay them for a certification/services I never received. They want participants to sign a contract saying that they will pay the entire $6,500, regardless of whether or not they pass. Considering the program doesn’t tell you the percentage of pass/fails upfront during their seminars (this information is not on their website either), it’s just not worth the risk. I would hate for anyone else to suffer the indignity and poor treatment that I did by being a part of this sham of a program.
Also, if anyone has any good testimonials against them, including how they screwed you or students over (I know there are already a lot on here), I’d love to hear about it. I’m planning to take them to small claims court out here. Hopefully, they won’t be able to do this still in the other cities where this sad program still exists.
Teachers are still students, but forget that and are worse than children. They work hard to look good on paper, to stand over anything they can, and treat it as a club where they have seniority. Later after they have stood above others that go along with it, get their position from adopting a popular political view and put road blocks for others, they sellout for $$$$ and turn college into money making while students get raped.
Forgive my English, I am a carpenter.
This is a slap in the face for those of us who spent the time and money to obtain our degrees the traditional way. This degrades the profession and takes away the respect teachers deserve. ( By the way please check your grammar… first year teachers, nor first year’s teachers. )
I loved my experience in training for the same reasons you did not. It began my 9 year journey into teaching and coaching. I’m a sped administrator now. I feel I owe all of my success to the program. I’m sorry your experience was negative, and you found a profession you’re proud of.
I got completely shafted by the program. Your lucky to have been able to advance from it. I was in the 2014 Chicago cohort, the very last one before they were shut down. The program was cut, superintendent/ ceo of CPS went to prison for racketeering. We had only virtual coaches that never came into the classroom. People that rated us came in half way through the lesson and didn’t read my observation binder with the IEP at a glance to even know what level my students were learning at. I failed the teaching fellows observations despite my Principle giving me good ratings with his. The CTF program coordinator told me principles aren’t qualified to rate because they aren’t familiar with common core yet. Arrogant 25 year olds thinking they know more about good teaching then a doctor in education. About 80% of us sped teachers failed. I was not allowed to keep my license. On top of that back in Minnesota I tried to join a masters program here for para educators in my current job where you could earn your masters and continue working as a para and have paid student teaching. They said it was only for people who were never teachers and that being a former teacher that no longer has a license looked unprofessional. I would have been better off never joining the program, having done all the pedigogy course work and then being left without a license. It’s a shame it basically forced someone like me out if the teaching profession