Secondary math teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows programs are as effective as teachers receiving traditional certification¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-08 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In a large-scale random assignment study, secondary math teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows programs were as effective as traditionally certified math teachers. → Melissa A. Clark 2013

Evidence¶

Melissa A. Clark 2013¶

Melissa A. Clark, Hanley S. Chiang, Tim Silva, Sheena McConnell, Kathy Sonnenfeld, Anastasia Erbe, Michael Puma. (2013). The Effectiveness of Secondary Math Teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows Programs. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/the-effectiveness-of-secondary-math-teachers-from-teach-for-america-and-the-teaching-fellows-programs

q3 · i? · causal · r?

A large-scale random assignment study of secondary school math teachers compared Teach For America and Teaching Fellows teachers with traditionally certified teachers and found they were "as effective as, and in some cases more effective than" the comparison teachers.

"The first large-scale, random assignment study of the effects of secondary school math teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows programs found they were as effective as, and in some cases more effective than, teachers receiving traditional certification."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• TFA secondary math teachers increase student math achievement by 0.07 standard deviations over one school year relative to other math teachers in the same schools — related
• In some cases, Teach For America and Teaching Fellows secondary math teachers are more effective than traditionally certified math teachers — related
• A randomized controlled trial found TFA secondary math teachers outperformed non-TFA comparison teachers in mathematics achievement — reports the opposite
• An elementary-school RCT found no statistically significant difference between TFA and non-TFA teachers in mathematics or reading achievement — related
• TFA teachers have positive effects on mathematics achievement for students in grades pre-K-12, based on six studies — related
• Students with alternatively certified teachers did no worse on achievement tests than students with traditionally certified teachers — a broader claim this one bears on
• Teaching by first- or second-year TFA corps members shows no significant effect on elementary-grade students' reading compared with non-TFA novice teachers — related
• The findings contradict claims that alternative teacher preparation programs such as Teach For America harm students — a broader claim this one bears on
• Teach For America teachers had no impact on student reading achievement — related
• TFA corps members hired in the first two years of the i3 scale-up were as effective as other teachers in the same high-poverty schools in teaching reading and math — related
• Secondary math students taught by Teaching Fellows teachers had test scores similar to peers taught by traditional-route teachers — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Within-school random assignment studies such as the TFA evaluation are challenging but may be feasible and generate useful evidence — related
• The authors propose creating America's Teacher Corps through federal legislation to recognize highly effective K-12 public school teachers — related
• Students of TFA teachers did not perform significantly differently from students of other under-certified teachers — related
• Study designs that randomly assign students within schools involve trade-offs, illustrated by the Teach For America evaluation experience — related
• Teach For America teachers had no impacts on other outcomes such as attendance, promotion, or disciplinary incidents — related