Chicago Public Schools is
committed to recruiting the best and the brightest to teach our students. We are thrilled that Teach For America corps
members are teaching in our high needs areas. Teach For America teachers bring a diversity of skills and a commitment to
quality education that is of great benefit to our students.
- Arne Duncan, CEO, Chicago Public Schools
Teach For America • Chicago is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of 330 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across Chicago to ensure that students facing the challenges of poverty are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are leaders in the classroom, in education more broadly, and across all sectors. Together, they are making educational equity a reality in Chicago. Learn about living and teaching in Chicago.
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Financial Sustainability | |
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Executive Director |
Recent press releases
Recent press coverage
During the 2008-09 school year, 330 corps members are directly impacting the lives of more than 25,000 students in Chicago. Katie Kirley is one example of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.
Katie Kirley (Chicago Corps '07) |
Katie Kirley teaches middle school math at Gary Lighthouse Charter School. On her first day of school, Katie learned that her classroom of seventh graders had been through eight teachers in the last three years and were performing, on average, at a fifth grade level in math. Operating with a sense of possibility and urgency, Katie used data-driven instruction to lead her students to an average of more than two years of growth on the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) standardized test. As a result, Katie received an award from Lighthouse Academies for achieving the highest gains in seventh grade math across the entire nationwide network, with special recognition for bringing her students to grade level.
Principal Satisfaction
*"Teach For America 2007 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2007.
Impact on Student Achievement
A growing body of research shows that corps members have a positive impact on their students' achievement. Read more about our impact.
Student Profile*
*Percentages vary depending on school district
Chicago: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | % of Corps * |
|---|---|
| Pre-K, Kindergarten | 15% |
| Elementary School, Lower (1-2) | 10% |
| Elementary School, Upper (3-5) | 21% |
| Secondary Math | 7% |
| Secondary English | 13% |
| Secondary Science | 22% |
| Secondary Social Studies | 3% |
| Secondary Foreign Language | 4% |
| Secondary Other | 4%% |
| ESL | 1% |
*Percentages are rounded and do not add up to 100 percent; corps members who teach bilingual, ESL, or special education are also accounted for in the grade-level/subject placement percentages
Characteristics of the 2008 Corps
| Corps Profile | Top alma maters by market share* |
|---|---|
| Average GPA: 3.6 | Spelman College: 16% |
| Average SAT: 1320 | Morehouse College, Williams College, Yale University: 11% |
| Held leadership roles on campus: 95% | Duke University, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, Wake Forest University, Wesleyan University: 10% |
| People of color: 29% | Amherst College, Harvard University, Haverford University, Notre Dame University, Princeton University, Rice University: 9% |
*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America
Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 300 alumni teachers, 45 alumni principals, and alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
To create an accelerated path to leadership for our alumni, Teach For America • Chicago has established the Principal Leadership Development Program with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). This collaboration trains deeply committed leaders to serve as principals in some of Chicago’s highest-need schools. The program begins for aspiring principals with a fully funded one-year enrollment in the School Leadership Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After graduating, the Fellows assume a
year-long residency with a master principal before committing at least four years to their new roles as CPS principals.
Growing Our Impact: Funding Needs, 2007-2011
Each additional corps member is another dedicated teacher
for children growing up in low-income communities in Chicago,
and another talented leader with the insight and commitment
necessary to sustain the reform efforts underway in our
region.
| Year | Corps Size | Revenue Needs |
|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | 230 | $3.1 million* |
| 2008-09 | 300 | $4.5 million* |
| 2009-10 | 340 | $6.0 million* |
| 2010-11 | 400 | $8.0 million* |
* projected |
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We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in Chicago. The foundations, corporations, and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.
| Advisory Board |
|---|
| Paul Finnegan (Chair) Co-President Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC |
| Charles Besser Chief Executive Officer Intersport, Inc. |
| Daniel Blumenthal Managing Partner Blue River Partners, LLP |
| C. Christopher Coetzee Managing Director Robert W. Baird & Co. |
| Matthew S. Darnall Managing Director Goldman Sachs & Co. |
| Charles Edelstein Managing Director Credit Suisse |
| Phupinder Gill President & CEO Chicago Mercantile Exchange |
| Peter Lehman Principal Granite Creek Partners, LLC |
| Janet Knupp President Chicago Public Education Fund |
| C. H. Randolph Lyon Vice Chairman Robert W. Baird & Co. |
| Jay L. Owen, Jr. Vice President J.P. Morgan Private Bank |
| Levoyd Robinson Managing Principal Chicago Fundamental Investment Partners |
| Paula Sneed Senior Vice President, retired Kraft Foods Inc. |
To support Teach For America • Chicago with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:
Teach For America • Chicago
Josh Anderson, Executive Director
Elliott Hood, Manager of Individual Giving
Shyam Kumar, Managing Director, Development
820 North Orleans Street
Suite 320
Chicago, IL 60610
p: 312-254-1000 ext. 391 f: 312-254-1014
josh.anderson@teachforamerica.org
elliott.hood@teachforamerica.org
shyam.kumar@teachforamerica.org
Josh Anderson was appointed executive director of Teach For America • Chicago in February 2007. Josh joined Teach For America's staff as the director of the Midwest Recruitment Team in 2006, during which time he produced record number of applications at both Northwestern and the University of Chicago. He previously worked as a Teach For America corps member in New York City, where he taught middle school English and Social Studies in the Hunts Point community of the southeast Bronx and served as School Team Leader for a 15-member Teach For America cohort at his school. A North Side native and a son of educators, Josh attended the Francis W. Parker School. He traveled east for college and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Josh was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was a 2005 Rhodes Scholar finalist.
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