Teach For America teachers had no impact on student reading achievement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2006 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In the randomized experiment, students taught by TFA teachers showed no impact on reading achievement relative to comparison teachers. → Steven Glazerman 2006

Evidence¶

Steven Glazerman 2006¶

Steven Glazerman, Daniel Mayer, Paul Decker. (2006). Alternative Routes to Teaching: The Impacts of Teach For America on Student Achievement and Other Outcomes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 25, no. 1. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/alternative-routes-to-teaching-the-impacts-of-teach-for-america-on-student-achievement-and-other-outcomes doi:10.1002/pam.20157

q3 · i? · causal · r?

Randomized experiment on the impact of Teach For America on student achievement. The study reports "no impact on reading achievement" for TFA teachers; no effect size for reading is printed.

"TFA teachers had a positive impact on math achievement and no impact on reading achievement."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The findings contradict claims that alternative teacher preparation programs such as Teach For America harm students — related
• Teach For America teachers had no impacts on other outcomes such as attendance, promotion, or disciplinary incidents — related
• Teach For America teachers had a positive impact on student math achievement of about 15 percent of a standard deviation, equivalent to about one month of instruction — related
• A randomized controlled trial found TFA secondary math teachers outperformed non-TFA comparison teachers in mathematics achievement — related
• TFA teachers have positive effects on mathematics achievement for students in grades pre-K-12, based on six studies — related
• Secondary math teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows programs are as effective as teachers receiving traditional certification — related
• Teach For America teachers were more likely than their peers to report problems with student behavior — related
• In some cases, Teach For America and Teaching Fellows secondary math teachers are more effective than traditionally certified math teachers — related
• TFA teachers in lower elementary grades (prekindergarten through grade 2) had a positive, statistically significant effect on reading achievement of 0.12 standard deviations — reports the opposite
• Students of certified teachers outperformed students of under-certified teachers, including TFA teachers, on all three SAT-9 subtests in low-income districts — related
• Secondary math students taught by Teach For America teachers outperformed peers taught by traditional-route teachers by 0.06 standard deviations — related
• TFA teachers in grades 1 and 2 had a positive effect on math achievement of 0.16 standard deviations that was almost statistically significant (p-value = 0.054) — related
• No statistically significant TFA impacts were found for upper elementary grades (3 through 5) in reading or math or for other examined subgroups — a narrower finding that bears on this claim