What We’re Talking About
Welcome to TFA’s Connection Blog. A space to bring you the latest news, resources, and events happening among the Teach For America Community. Here is what we’re talking about in July:
Summer Training Begins!
Be prepared and ready to make change: this is the theme of Teach For America’s pre-service summer training.
Our newest corps members are planning and leading lessons, receiving feedback and learning from veteran educators.
This newest generation of leaders believes in the potential of every child and they are building the tools, support, and confidence they need so that they and their students will thrive in the classroom this school year.
Spotlights
Teach For America Kicks of it’s 35th Anniversary at the New York Annual Benefit Dinner
“We have changed the college going trajectory of one building on one block. And that’s what it really feels like for us to build community, block by block, brick by brick.” – Leslie Bernard Joseph (NYC ‘06), former Coney Island Prep CEO.
TFA celebrated 35 years of impact in NYC and honored outgoing CEO Elisa Villanueva Beard during the Annual Benefit Dinner. The event highlighted the impact of TFA leaders who founded and developed Coney Island Prep, now serving 1,300 scholars on the path to becoming leaders in their community.
TFA in the News
- CEO Aneesh Sohoni Shares Advice as TFA’s Newest Teachers
- Elisa Villanueva Beard Shares Her Farewell Remarks as Outgoing CEO
- Chalkbeat: TFA Greater Philadelphia Executive Director, Anna Shurak, Addresses Impact of AmeriCorps Cuts on Local Schools
- University of Maryland Baltimore County: TFA Corps Member, Mariam Yaldram, Reflects on Leadership Journey and Advocacy for Educational Equity
- The CT Mirror: TFA Connecticut Executive Director, Dolores Garcia-Blocker, Calls for Restoration of State Funding for High-Dosage Tutoring
- Harlan Daily Enterprise: Retiring Harlan Independent Schools Superintendent, Charles Morton, Named TFA Appalachia Executive Director
- The Miami Times: TFA Florida Regions Executive Director, LaKeisha Wells-Palmer, Highlights Teacher Pay Crisis Affecting Students
- The Learning Future Podcast: The Reinvention Lab at TFA Executive Director, Sunanna Chand, Discusses Reimagining Education With AI and Teacher Led Community Based Design
- KIVI-TV: TFA Idaho Executive Director, Tony Ashton, Highlights Impact of Federal Funding Cuts on Rural Teacher Placement
- EdSurge: TFA Bay Area Executive Director, Beatrice Viramontes, Highlights Need for Creative Teacher Credentialing Solutions in California
- Lexington Herald-Leader: TFA Appalachia Interim Executive Director, Rosanna Ballinger, Urges Reversal of AmeriCorps Grant Cuts in Kentucky
*Note: In pursuit of our vision of One Day and our 2030 impact goal, Teach For America has built a broad coalition, and we work alongside over 300 communities across 37 states, the District of Columbia, and sovereign nations. To meet the needs of the children we serve and our participants, we partner with several other organizations and entities to establish a repertoire of resources and supports. While we review these resources, we recognize the content of links may shift, change, or be not fully aligned with our complete view, values, or vision. The inclusion of any link is intended to direct users to potentially useful information. Teach For America encourages users to exercise their own judgment when accessing linked websites.
Data & Research
The New Absenteeism
In the most recent national data from the 2022-2023 school year, 20 states reported that more than 30% of their students missed at least three weeks of school.
When a young person isn’t attending school, they aren’t learning. Chronic absenteeism has a major impact on student learning, which has a compounding effect throughout a student’s academic career.
Teach For America’s Reinvention Lab, the organization’s Research & Development team focused on the future of learning, conducted research on chronic absenteeism, surfacing the importance of listening to young people and understanding their experiences in order to effectively track and address the issues that keep them from consistently attending or engaging with school.
TFA’s Reinvention Lab published their research on contemporary causes of chronic absenteeism in FutureEd, The New Absenteeism: What Measuring Attendance Misses
What’s Happening Around July
July 17: TFA NY & Burn In Mindset: Session 2
Stay Connected
Whether you just joined the Corps or completed your service decades ago, there are many ways to find your fellow Corps members and friends and connect. We provide both an alumni directory for looking up your old friends and a career networking platform – TFA Connect – for when you want to expand your career network, and several networking events each year. You can even join the national TFA Alumni group on LinkedIn! Wherever you go, the TFA alumni network is accessible and ready to support you.
