Apply to Join TFA Today! Apply by the next deadline, December 3rd. Fill out your application now! Close Our Impact Skip side nav The Challenge Our Approach Our Network and Communities During COVID-19 Our Impact Research Our Values Who We Are Leadership History Teach For America is a community of changemakers and coalition-builders. Leaders who teach, and teachers who lead. From classrooms to districts to statehouses across America, we’re reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, grow, influence, and lead. Teach For America’s Reach Teach For America has a 30-year track record of advancing educational excellence and equity in the United States through our network of remarkable and diverse leaders working to expand opportunity and access for all children. With 58,600 alumni in over 50 regions around the country, our network now includes more than 14,900 alumni teachers, 1,377 school leaders; 601 school system leaders; over 1,108 policy and advocacy leaders; more than 280 elected leaders; and 238 social entrepreneurs. And while only one in five Teach For America corps members had plans to teach before applying to TFA, four out of five alumni now work in education or careers serving low-income communities. “Looking back, we know that this was never just about two years. From wherever we are, we fight for an uncompromising belief in every child, because we've seen their potential come alive in our classrooms.” 89% Principals agree that corps members contribute to a positive, collaborative professional culture 90% Principals reported corps members build strong relationships within their school community Fueling an Exceptional, Diverse Talent Pipeline Our leadership pipeline helps schools fill critical, hard-to-staff roles. Teach For America is the talent pipeline that most closely reflects the demographics of children attending public schools. Half of our corps members identify as people of color, half come from a low-income background, and one-third are first generation college graduates. According to a 2018 study, Teach For America alumni gain a greater understanding of how societal injustices like educational inequity harm disadvantaged and low-income communities, and they display less class- and race-based resentment than peers who did not join the corps. Pioneering and Strengthening Schools Teach For America alumni have blazed new paths as founders of YES Prep, KIPP, IDEA Public Schools, Rocketship, and Citizens of the World Charter Schools, to name a few. Today 3,700 Teach For America alumni are principals, assistant principals, and deans leading schools across the country. They are running high performing schools, helping turn around low-performing schools, launching new schools, growing existing networks, and some are working to reimagine school entirely. A recent analysis of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) student growth data gives a window into the impact of TFA alumni school leaders. It shows that charter management organizations with TFA alum school leaders achieved 84 additional days of learning in reading and 52 additional days of learning in math beyond what students’ prior test scores would predict. Powering Innovation in Education Hundreds of Teach For America alumni are founding and leading social ventures with children and families at the center, fueling change in classrooms, schools, and beyond. A 2011 study by researchers from Harvard Graduate School of Education and the American Enterprise Institute concluded that more founders and top leaders of entrepreneurial education organizations started their careers with Teach For America than anywhere else. In the last five years alone, 42 TFA alumni have been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list. System Leaders Driving Systemic Change Today, four out of five alumni work full time in education or careers that impact low-income communities. Among them are 601 school systems leaders, leading districts, state departments, and state boards of education, working together and alongside many others to create to produce better outcomes for more children. Teach For America alumni are state superintendents of education in the District of Columbia, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and, formerly, Tennessee. Driving Progress with Communities Communities across the country are making meaningful progress in educational outcomes, and TFA alumni and corps members are playing an essential role, working alongside many others. Here are just a few examples. Tennessee’s students on average doubled the national average of gains on the NAEP science exam. Nashville-Chattanooga, Tennessee In 2005, Tennessee ranked in the bottom fifteen states for fourth-grade math. In 2010, the state was one of two to win the first federal “Race to the Top” innovation grant. Today, Tennessee has been one of the fastest improving states since 2011 according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Teach For America’s force of 1,000 leaders across Nashville has played an essential role in fueling change across the state: In 2017, the State Board of Education report card showed that Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga corps members lead the city in student achievement growth in elementary, middle school, and special education placements. In the 2016-17 school year, Teach For America alumni principals led 72% of the top-performing non-selective public middle and high schools in Nashville. Teach For America is the only teacher preparation program in Tennessee to receive the highest rating in all categories by the state board of education, and year over year is named among the most effective sources of new teachers. In 2017, Teach For America Nashville-Chattanooga was rated the #1 overall program in the state. Alumni are also advocating for students at the policy level: 4 alumni are part of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education; 16 alumni work in the Department of Education; one alumnus served as state commissioner for education between 2011 and 2015, and led Tennessee to dramatic growth in student outcomes. Photo by Kevin Martinez Jesse Melgoza and Galilea Zapata began college, but never earned their degrees. Thanks to IDEA-U, they're getting another shot. An offshoot of IDEA Public Schools, IDEA-U is not a university, but a way for students who graduated from IDEA high schools to re-enroll in college and earn degrees. Rio Grande Valley, Texas Since 2001, the high school graduation rate of children growing up in the Rio Grande Valley has climbed from 78% to 92%. Student outcomes continue to rise and more and more children have access to academic opportunities such as advanced placement courses. In the last 10 years, AP/Dual Credit course completion has grown from 23% to 43%, and the percentage of students in the Rio Grande Valley who enroll into higher education after high school has increased from 49% to 60%. Teach For America placed its first corps of teachers in the Rio Grande Valley in 1991, and has become an integral part of the community’s effort to expand educational opportunity for children there. Around 260 alumni and corps members live and work in the Rio Grande Valley, and over 85% of our alumni work directly in education, more than half as K-12 teachers. Numerous TFA alums work at the Texas Education Agency, supporting all schools and districts across the state, including the Deputy Commissioner of Education, who taught in the Rio Grande Valley as a corps member. IDEA Public Schools was founded by two TFA alumni in 2000 and has grown to a network of 79 schools (39 in the Rio Grande Valley) serving 27,000 students. Read more in our 2020 Annual Report. 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