Teach for america teachers' careers

Morgaen L. Donaldson

Today, more than ever, teachers play an important role in student progress. Teacher quality has decreased over time, however, and low-income children, often taught by the least-qualified teachers, pay the greatest price. Teach For America (TFA) addresses these problems by recruiting high-achieving college graduates to teach in schools serving predominantly low-income students. TFA has grown substantially, spawning numerous replicas and attracting increasing numbers of applicants. The retention of TFA teachers had never been studied longitudinally and on a national scale until now, however. My dissertation asks whether, when, and why TFA teachers voluntarily leave their initial, low-income placement schools and the teaching profession altogether. I examine whether their retention varies by gender, race, and the presence of a teacher in one's family. I further investigate whether TFA...