Teach For America and the Struggle for Urban School Reform

This book traces the experiences of one cohort of Teach For America (TFA) corps members as they reconcile their hopes for their students with the reality of teaching in a district that favors compliance over compassion. The voices of the teachers are highlighted as they wrestle with urban poverty, question bureaucratic mandates, resist dehumanizing reform initiatives, and experiment with critical pedagogy.

Katherine Crawford-Garrett, an assistant professor at Ithaca College, holds an EdD from the Reading/Writing/Literacy program at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in English literature from the Breadloaf School of English. Dr. Crawford-Garrett has been exploring urban education for the past 15 years as a 5th grade teacher, teacher educator, researcher, and scholar.

«This smart book adds theoretical and ethnographic insight to a growing body of literature that is critical of urban education reform in general, and TFA in particular. Her close examination of how TFA corps members understand their roles provides evidence that recent education reforms are making over schools into Taylorist factories, where students and teachers are expected to be cogs in increasingly dehumanizing machines. asingly dehumanizing machines.» (Andrew Hartman, Associate Professor of History, Illinois State University) «As I read I could not help feeling sympathetic for these young, well-intentioned ‘teachers,’ as many of their poignant testimonials extend beyond TFA and into thousands of public school classrooms. ‘I just realized I would rather be fired than keep doing this stuff that is harming my kids’ is not a sentiment limited to TFA corps members, and it is one, of many, that more parents and concerned citizens should listen to and act upon. Crawford-Garrett uses her critique of TFA to problematize the larger neoliberal ‘reform’ movement driving educational reform. It is this fact that makes this a worthy read for anyone concerned about the future of public schools.» (Philip Kovacs, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Alabama, Huntsville) «This engaging and highly readable book is both disturbing and hopeful. Crawford-Garrett combines powerful lenses – from international humanitarian aid to practitioner inquiry – to theorize the experiences of 43 TFA teachers during their first year of teaching in failing urban schools. The author paints a troubling picture of TFA that is quite different from the one embraced by policymakers, philanthropists, and the corporate world. This is a must-read for those who are serious about teacher education reform.» (Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools, Lynch School of Education, Boston College) «TFA is long overdue for the close, critical examination undertaken in this book. We hear directly from corps members about their experiences, which reveal some disturbing patterns. How could a group dedicated to equity and innovation yield the opposite results? If you want to understand the way education reform plays out in the real world, this is a great place to start.» (Anthony Cody, Author, Living in Dialogue blog)

«This smart book adds theoretical and ethnographic insight to a growing body of literature that is critical of urban education reform in general, and TFA in particular. Her close examination of how TFA corps members understand their roles provides evidence that recent education reforms are making over schools into Taylorist factories, where students and teachers are expected to be cogs in increasingly dehumanizing machines. asingly dehumanizing machines.» (Andrew Hartman, Associate Professor of History, Illinois State University) «As I read I could not help feeling sympathetic for these young, well-intentioned ‘teachers,’ as many of their poignant testimonials extend beyond TFA and into thousands of public school classrooms. ‘I just realized I would rather be fired than keep doing this stuff that is harming my kids’ is not a sentiment limited to TFA corps members, and it is one, of many, that more parents and concerned citizens should listen to and act upon. Crawford-Garrett uses her critique of TFA to problematize the larger neoliberal ‘reform’ movement driving educational reform. It is this fact that makes this a worthy read for anyone concerned about the future of public schools.» (Philip Kovacs, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Alabama, Huntsville) «This engaging and highly readable book is both disturbing and hopeful. Crawford-Garrett combines powerful lenses – from international humanitarian aid to practitioner inquiry – to theorize the experiences of 43 TFA teachers during their first year of teaching in failing urban schools. The author paints a troubling picture of TFA that is quite different from the one embraced by policymakers, philanthropists, and the corporate world. This is a must-read for those who are serious about teacher education reform.» (Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools, Lynch School of Education, Boston College) «TFA is long overdue for the close, critical examination undertaken in this book. We hear directly from corps members about their experiences, which reveal some disturbing patterns. How could a group dedicated to equity and innovation yield the opposite results? If you want to understand the way education reform plays out in the real world, this is a great place to start.» (Anthony Cody, Author, Living in Dialogue blog)

Contents: There is no single Story: Problematizing the American School Reform Narrative – The Struggling Urban District: Teach for America and School Privatization – «The Tension between Urgency and Humanity»: Confronting Factory-Style Education – «Infinite Jurisdiction»: Managing Student Achievement – In And Out Of School – «We Don’t Know How To Be Teachers»: Negotiating Knowledge And Practice In The Elementary Classroom – «A Happier, More Engaged Teacher»: The Transformative Potential Of The Methods Classroom – Reconsidering The Possible In Urban Education: Embracing Multiple Narratives.