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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Teach For America applications too closed-minded

Although the imminence of the big, bad “what the hell are you going to do after you graduate?” question is closer for some of us than for others (sorry seniors, sadistic reminder), the question of where to go next is one that, by definition, looms over the entirety of the college career.

In response to this often-irritating query, which I am guilty of repeating despite how much I hate answering it, one of the only things I hear with the same consistency as “I have no idea” involves aspirations for Teach for America. Yesterday, TFA hopefuls from the first round of applications, UW students among them, found out the fate of their efforts. Despite the fact that Teach for America is pretty much the new black, I — and I think I can find more than a few others — am still a little mystified by its admissions process.

I have divided TFA selection results into three groups (this is totally official and authoritative): 1) Predictable 2) What? and 3) What+? In the first group are candidates for whom we can say “I could have called that,” i.e., we can see how they would or would not get in. In the second group, we have those we cannot believe got in, and in the third group, those that we cannot believe didn’t get in. In my experience, the second and third groups, and especially the third, are disproportionately more populated than the first. I have neither experience nor qualifications for judging who will make a better teacher, but I think it can be universally established that the best candidates are those who can teach the material. Clearly, measuring this quality is more difficult than establishing it as a qualification, so it makes sense to see how TFA sorts its applicants. Although the program website states there is “no one profile of an ideal applicant,” the selection committee seeks “perseverance in the face of challenges, organizational ability, ability to influence and motivate others” and demonstrated leadership skills. The screening process consists of an application review, followed by two rounds of interviews, with weed-outs at each step.

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The characteristics described above appear to allow for a relatively broad range of members. However, the interviewing process may foster a narrower — perhaps problematically so — conception of a qualified TFA fellow. Kate, a UW senior who recently applied for the program, says the interview questions were framed to promote applicants with a na?ve attitude. For instance, Kate’s phone interview included the question, fairly typical for TFA interviews,”Would you have the same expectations for low-income students as for those coming from an upper middle-class background?” Since the goal of the teaching fellow is to catch up students whose skills are often several years behind the national average, Kate told her interviewer that her expectations would initially be different, but that she would adjust them in accordance with student progress. The interviewer responded with skepticism, asking whether different expectations meant holding low-income students and parents to a lower standard. Although these are obviously relevant concerns for program administrators, there is a problem if what is sought is not the”critical thinking” the TFA website claims to seek, but rather an unwaveringly idealistic “I just want to change the world” mentality. In other words, students should not be punished for expressing an understanding of the nuances involved in fulfilling the TFA mission.

If it is true the admissions process adheres too closely to one particular paradigm, then it risks weeding out better applicants than the ones it admits. I am not claiming Teach for America only hires blissful optimists who think they’ll fix urban poverty in two years. I do, however, think this issue warrants, at the very least, further inspection. Teach for America has already come under fire for its ideology and practices (i.e., whether it is beneficial or even ethical to bring inexperienced college graduates into the nation’s most struggling classrooms), and there is little data on the viability of the selection process and its role in program impact. While the legitimacy of the program as a whole is a separate issue, if TFA is to continue with its current goals, a stronger effort should be made to ensure those bearing responsibility for some of America’s most troubled students demonstrate more than a desire to remedy the achievement gap.

Hannah Shtein ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in philosophy.

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