Teach For America is bringing high quality teachers to Hartford willing to do whatever it takes to lead students to achieve and who hold themselves personally responsible for the academic success of each and every one of their students. Beyond their two year commitment, these accomplished and dedicated individuals continue to be leaders in the effort to close the achievement gap and improve public education. Teach For America is an outstanding pipeline of talent for the city of Hartford.
- Dr. Steven J. Adamowski, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools
Teach For America • Connecticut is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of 150 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across Connecticut 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 Connecticut. Learn about living and teaching in Connecticut.
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Executive Director |
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During the 2008-09 school year, 150 corps members are directly impacting the lives of more than 9,000 students in Connecticut. Ellen Tillman is one example of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.
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Ellen Tillman (Connecticut Corps '07) |
Ellen Tillman teaches sixth grade at Barnum Elementary School in Bridgeport. When she entered the classroom, her 31 students were struggling to read grade-level texts; she found they could only read at a mid-elementary school level. Ellen set high expectations that her students would read on grade level by the end of the year. She engaged them in detailed reading comprehension exercises and closely tracked their progress. By year’s end, her class passed the district reading assessment and the majority advanced 1.5 years to read on grade
level. Outside the classroom, Ellen has also procured two grants; one that enables her students to plant community gardens and another that will purchase science equipment kits that students will use for years to come.
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 by school district
Connecticut: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | % of Corps* |
|---|---|
| Pre-K, Kindergarten | 6% |
| Elementary School, Lower (1-2) | 18% |
| Elementary School, Upper (3-5) | 14% |
| Secondary Math | 4% |
| Secondary English | 16% |
| Secondary Science | 18% |
| Secondary Social Studies | 9% |
| Secondary Foreign Language | 3% |
| Secondary Other | 10% |
| Bilingual | 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 150 Teach For America • Connecticut alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
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Sarah Bezek (Rio Grande Valley Corps '98) Undergraduate Institution: Gustavus Adolphus College |
Sarah Bezek taught science at Edcouch Elsa High School in Elsa, Texas. As a corps member, she watched her students and their families struggle to receive adequate health care due to several factors, including their inability to pay for services, language barriers, and rural location. Motivated by this experience, Sarah chose a career in emergency medicine, the only branch of medicine where you are required by law to provide health care to all patients, regardless of socioeconomic status. Today, Sarah is an emergency room resident at Yale New Haven Hospital. Her work relieves the pressure of inadequate health care, allowing children and their families more time to focus on school.
Growing Our Impact: Funding Needs, 2007-2010
Each additional recruit is another dedicated teacher for children growing up in low-income communities in Connecticut, and another talented leader with the insight and commitment
necessary to sustain the reform efforts underway, which is critical to the ongoing vitality of our region.
| Year | Corps Size | Revenue Needs |
|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | 110 | $2.9 million* |
| 2008-09 | 150* | $3.7 million* |
| 2009-10 | 175* | $4.85 million* |
* projected |
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We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in Connecticut. 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.
| Corporate, Foundation and Public Support Show more + |
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|---|---|---|
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We thank the Hartford for their extraordinary support of our work:
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$100,000 - $199,999 |
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| The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. The Louis Calder Foundation New Haven Public Schools Yale University |
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To support Teach For America • Connecticut with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:
Teach For America • Connecticut
Edna Novak, Executive Director
Diana Gilberti, Development Director
142 Temple Street
Suite 303
New Haven, CT 06510
p 203-786-5498, f 203-786-5497
edna.novak@teachforamerica.org
diana.gilberti@teachforamerica.org
Edna Novak is the executive director of Teach For America • Connecticut, overseeing the region’s programmatic and development efforts and forging new partnerships to strengthen the region. Edna first joined Teach For America staff in 2004 as a recruitment director, achieving 180 percent growth in applications from math majors, 35 percent growth in applications overall, and 25 percent growth in event attendance at the 14 universities at which she recruited over her two years in the role. She was a 2002 corps member in Greater New Orleans, where she taught third grade and middle school math, and led her students to grow an average of two grade levels in math and 1.5 grade levels in reading. Edna is a graduate of Wellesley College and earned her M.B.A from Yale University.
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