Teach For America • Dallas Update

Teach For America is a national movement to eliminate educational inequity. With the belief that one day all children
in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education, thousands of our country’s graduates from
top colleges and universities devote two years to teaching in our nation’s underserved areas. These teachers’ (known
as corps members) ultimate goal is to raise every student’s achievement to the level of the highest performing school
districts.

The results from the 2009-2010 school year—Teach For America’s first year in Dallas—attest to the progress of the
Dallas corps.

• An analysis of the Dallas ISD Classroom Effectiveness Index (CEI) showed that TFA corps members
outperformed both other traditionally and alternatively certified teachers in Reading and Math1a.

• In the Dallas ISD critical needs areas of high school math and science a higher percentage of students in
Teach For America teachers classrooms met the TAKS standard1b.

• Over 85% of elementary corps members led their students to at least one and a half years of reading
growth2.

• Nine corps members in Dallas ISD are serving as department chairs in their schools. Over thirty corps
members serve as extracurricular coaches and/or advisors.

The 24 corps members at Uplift schools performed comparable to veteran Uplift teachers with primary corps
members achieving a combined TAKS passage rate of 96% and commended rate of 41%. Dallas corps members have
also shown significant initiative outside the classroom as well. Through Southern Methodist University, four are
pursuing graduate studies in Educational Leadership and 13 are enrolled in the Master’s of Teaching and Learning
program to further pursue academic development.

Their remarkable initiative has driven the Dallas corps to make considerable progress, posting student achievement
figures second in the nation among Teach For America’s 39 regions. The ability of Teach For America to serve in
Dallas has been made possible by the efforts of trustees, philanthropists, district leaders, and community
stakeholders. Dallas area foundations and corporations, as well as leaders like State Senators Royce West and
Florence Shapiro and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, have been a part of the lead effort to secure state and
federal support for Teach For America and have driven the ability for Teach For America to expand into Dallas.

The cost that Teach For America accrues per corps member for recruiting, selecting, training, and providing ongoing
support amounts to approximately $20,000 dollars per year. The ability for Teach For America to operate depends
heavily on the support and buy-in of an array of stakeholders within the philanthropic community and other entities to
cover the majority of expenditures (85%), while partner districts are the sole beneficiaries of the outcomes. Partner
districts currently provide funding to offset only 15% of the total cost per a corps member. Dallas ISD offsets a
majority of this cost as the district recoups up to $3,500 dollars per a corps member, because all first year incoming
TFA teachers are certified through the Dallas AC program.

Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, the Dallas corps is working in 51 Dallas ISD schools, 14 Uplift Education
schools, four Texans CAN! Academies, the St. Anthony Academy (non-parochial), and KIPP TRUTH Academy.
Collectively, they impact nearly 19,000 students across the Dallas area driving them to significant academic
achievement. To bring more of this country’s most promising future leaders to the area Fort Worth ISD Trustees
recently approved a partnership with Teach For America. This is a testament to the efforts that have been occurring
right here in Dallas and the path that has been blazed by Dallas ISD trustee’s and district leadership.

1a As reported by Dallas ISD

1b As reported by Dallas ISD (compares students in TFA classrooms to other teachers in schools being served by TFA)
2
As measured by the Developmental Reading Assessment®