TEACH FOR AMERICA BACKGROUND
Teach for America is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by Wendy Kopp as part of her senior thesis project for Princeton University. Her idea was to recruit high-performing college graduates to teach in high-need schools with the goal of bringing more balance to the large inequities in education that existed within the American public school system (primarily the K – 8 grades). In exchange for two years of service, Teach for America (TFA) members would receive a paid entry-level teacher position within a TFA partner school and potential aid to pursue post-graduate education. In addition, they would gain immediate leadership experience within many entities: the TFA organization, the school they are teaching, …show more content…
While the recession provided conditions that seemed to benefit TFA, the economy has since stabilized. The unemployment rate for Americans under the age of 25 has fallen to almost 5% since 2013 (Exhibit D – Unemployment Rate Trend for Persons Under 25 Years of Age) and TFA can’t hope/wait for another recession to recreate the abundance of applicants.
Another change in the current landscape is that an increasing number of college students face exorbitant levels of debt upon graduating college. There will be a growing desire among new graduates to make a decent salary straight out of college to battle this debt rather than taking a smaller salary in support of a cause. An entry level teacher’s salary typically does not compare favorably to what competitors may be offering and thus can’t be a point of emphasis in their strategic recruitment.
In the current landscape, TFA needs to focus on value. New TFA teachers will be immediately thrusted into leadership opportunities within the organization, within their schools, and within their communities. This allows for a graduate to build a real-world foundation with which they can launch their future careers. TFA must incentivize their program to entice possible teachers away from other fields: a job that is easier said than done for a few different …show more content…
By utilizing a mix of alumni data, such as that in Exhibit F, demonstrating alumni career trajectories and testimonials from some of TFA’s most-successful alumni (as seen in Exhibit E), TFA can demonstrate the opportunities that nonprofits can offer and drown out some of the negative testimonials easily found on the internet. Continuing to reach new candidates with concrete examples can be a great way to increase awareness of the opportunities presented by non-profits and the substantial career success that can be obtained. Through this, TFA can position themselves in a critical niche of pricing (i.e. salary and benefits in the category of employment) which demonstrates value rather than competitive pricing.
In conclusion, Teach for America needs to focus their efforts on increasing the effectiveness of their recruiting practices by narrowing the target and producing higher levels of awareness of the program. In doing so, they will turn the tide on the falling applicant numbers and bring more soldiers into the fight against education inequality in
Teach for America is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by Wendy Kopp as part of her senior thesis project for Princeton University. Her idea was to recruit high-performing college graduates to teach in high-need schools with the goal of bringing more balance to the large inequities in education that existed within the American public school system (primarily the K – 8 grades). In exchange for two years of service, Teach for America (TFA) members would receive a paid entry-level teacher position within a TFA partner school and potential aid to pursue post-graduate education. In addition, they would gain immediate leadership experience within many entities: the TFA organization, the school they are teaching, …show more content…
While the recession provided conditions that seemed to benefit TFA, the economy has since stabilized. The unemployment rate for Americans under the age of 25 has fallen to almost 5% since 2013 (Exhibit D – Unemployment Rate Trend for Persons Under 25 Years of Age) and TFA can’t hope/wait for another recession to recreate the abundance of applicants.
Another change in the current landscape is that an increasing number of college students face exorbitant levels of debt upon graduating college. There will be a growing desire among new graduates to make a decent salary straight out of college to battle this debt rather than taking a smaller salary in support of a cause. An entry level teacher’s salary typically does not compare favorably to what competitors may be offering and thus can’t be a point of emphasis in their strategic recruitment.
In the current landscape, TFA needs to focus on value. New TFA teachers will be immediately thrusted into leadership opportunities within the organization, within their schools, and within their communities. This allows for a graduate to build a real-world foundation with which they can launch their future careers. TFA must incentivize their program to entice possible teachers away from other fields: a job that is easier said than done for a few different …show more content…
By utilizing a mix of alumni data, such as that in Exhibit F, demonstrating alumni career trajectories and testimonials from some of TFA’s most-successful alumni (as seen in Exhibit E), TFA can demonstrate the opportunities that nonprofits can offer and drown out some of the negative testimonials easily found on the internet. Continuing to reach new candidates with concrete examples can be a great way to increase awareness of the opportunities presented by non-profits and the substantial career success that can be obtained. Through this, TFA can position themselves in a critical niche of pricing (i.e. salary and benefits in the category of employment) which demonstrates value rather than competitive pricing.
In conclusion, Teach for America needs to focus their efforts on increasing the effectiveness of their recruiting practices by narrowing the target and producing higher levels of awareness of the program. In doing so, they will turn the tide on the falling applicant numbers and bring more soldiers into the fight against education inequality in