Since our inception 17,000 individuals have participated in Teach For America, impacting the lives of more than 2.5 million students.

Studies on corps member impact: What the research says

Teach For America welcomes and seeks out rigorous independent evaluations as a means of measuring our impact and continuously improving our program. In fact, we have attracted a significant amount of research over the years—more than just about any teacher training or support program.

Evaluating the research

The studies vary in methodology, and in some cases in their conclusions, so it's important to figure out which research is right. To that end, here are the criteria we use to evaluate studies about our impact:

  1. They should measure the impact of teachers, rather than the readiness of their students or the nature of their schools, and
  2. In an ideal world, they use random assignment of students to teachers to eliminate bias regarding student assignments.

While there are several studies that meet the first of these criteria, there is only one that meets both. That study, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and recognized by the research community as the most rigorous study of Teach For America to date, is summarized below. A number of additional studies meet neither of the above criteria.

See how these studies scored on Education Next's independent report card

"Even though Teach For America teachers generally lack any formal teacher training beyond that provided by Teach For America, they produce higher test scores than the other teachers in their schools—not just other novice teachers or uncertified teachers, but also veterans and certified teachers."

- Mathematica Policy Research

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Student Impact Study by Mathematica Policy Research (2004)

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., a leading research firm, released an independent study in 2004 that compared the academic gains of students taught by Teach For America corps members with the gains of similar students taught by other teachers, both new and veteran, in the same schools and grades.

The study found that Teach For America corps members:

  • Make more progress in both reading and math than would typically be expected in a year.
  • Attain significantly greater gains in math than the other teachers in the study, even when compared only to certified teachers and veteran teachers.
  • Are working in the highest-need classrooms in the country, where students begin the year on average at the 14th percentile against the national norm.

National Principal Satisfaction with Teach For America Teachers

Policy Studies Associates, 2007
In a survey conducted by the research firm Policy Studies Associates, principals who manage Teach For America teachers overwhelmingly report a high level of satisfaction with them, including that they are well prepared, and that they have a significant and positive impact on their schools and on student achievement.

Quality of Training

  • Nearly all principals (93 percent) report that corps members’ training is at least as good as the training of other beginning teachers.
  • Nearly two-thirds of principals (63 percent) rate Teach For America corps members’ training as better than that of other beginning teachers.

Impact on Student Achievement

  • Nearly all principals (95 percent) rate Teach For America corps members as effective as, if not more effective than, other beginning teachers in terms of overall performance and impact on student achievement.
  • Two-thirds of principals (61 percent) regard Teach For America teachers as more effective compared with other beginning teachers in their schools with respect to their impact on student achievement.

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