Mercedes Schneider discovered an article by a former TFA recruit, Rolf Straubhaar, who now teaches at Texas State University.
Straubhaar compares the experience of Teach for America in the U.S. and the experience of those who joined the TFA offshoot, called a Teach for All, in Brazil.
The program in Brazil didn’t last long. It folded.
His studies persuaded him that many of the participants in these programs became skeptical of its market orientation.
He wrote:
And yet, perhaps the most interesting legacy of being trained as a teacher through TFA and Ensina!, at least for participants in these two studies, is the effect that training has had on the career plans and ideological perspectives of these teachers. Around half of the TFA teachers interviewed and the vast majority of interviewed Ensina! teachers had come to question the efficacy of the Teach For All model, both as a teacher education program and an education reform initiative intended to address educational inequality. …
The most interesting and thoughtful alums of TFA are those who reject it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“TFA” needs your Inexperience.” They need it so they can exploit bright young people before they have had an opportunity to form an opinion. Again, TFA has not been a miracle. It has been a way to attract young people eager to pay down student debt. For the most part they either become teaching temps or “true believers” that move on to administrative or lobbying jobs in the organization. I think they are having difficulty attracting newbies as a recent ad for TFA only required a college degree and a 2.5 GPA.
“Traditional instruction does not erase the gap.” As someone that tried to do just that, I can tell you that poverty is a worthy adversary. Overall, my district worked very hard to elevate our poorest students by investing in lots of supports and supplemental programming for poor students. Many of these students went on to college and middle class careers, but, of course, some did not. Even if instruction can help students get higher scores, will it erase the gap? I doubt it as the gap is caused by broad based lack of exposure to places, language and information often missing in the homes of poor students. In some cases students may be able to erase the gap if they are avid readers and learners, and they can earn a middle class income. For most students, I think we can help bridge the gap, but not erase it.
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This line says a LOT that rings true: “…exploit bright young people before they have had an opportunity to form an opinion.” They don’t have the experience to have formed personal opinions, but they are very adept at spouting TFA dogma opinions. This then changes up after year one and into year two when most begin to understand how far off they are from being happily successful. It is interesting how much quieter many get into that second year.
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