Event to Raise Awareness of Educational Inequity Brings Leaders into Local Schools as Guest Teachers

WILMINGTON — Governor. Jack Markell today highlighted the importance of hard work and determination to 7th grade math students at Prestige Academy in Wilmington as a guest teacher for Teach For America Week.  Teach For America Week draws community leaders nationwide to support educational excellence for all children. Volunteers visit the classrooms of Teach For America teachers, also known as corps members, and teach lessons based on their experiences in business, politics, and beyond.

During his visit, Gov. Markell co-taught a pre-Algebra class alongside Teach For America corps member Shenita Baltimore.  Gov. Markell and Ms. Baltimore facilitated a “skill drill” of students’ algebra vocabulary and content knowledge, followed by a Price is Right-themed group activity.  The Governor also took questions from students about his role as chief executive of the state of Delaware.

“These students know the more they prepare for their future, the more opportunities they will have.  They are lucky to have Ms. Baltimore, and Delaware is fortunate to have Teach for America,” said Governor Markell.  “Global jobs in science, technology, engineering and math will await these young people someday and we want them to be ready.  Great teachers will help make it happen.”

A graduate of Princeton University, Ms. Baltimore is in her second year teaching middle school math at Prestige Academy.  On this year’s Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System, 92 percent of her students scored proficient or advanced.

“Our partnership with Teach for America has been vitally important to Prestige Academy’s success,” said Jack Perry, founder and executive director of Prestige Academy.  “We are delighted that Governor Markell is helping to highlight the importance of this program in narrowing the achievement gap.”

Working in partnership with communities, Teach For America recruits, trains, and supports talented and diverse individuals from all backgrounds who commit at least two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. This year, more than 9,000 first- and second-year Teach For America corps members are teaching in low-income communities across 43 urban and rural regions nationwide. Additionally, two-thirds of the organization’s nearly 24,000 alumni continue to work full-time in education.

Teach For America expanded to Delaware in 2009.  This school year, 45 first- and second-year corps members are reaching nearly 2,500 students growing up in low-income communities as teachers in Red Clay, Christina and New Castle County Vocational Technical school districts, the Latin American Community Center and local charter schools.  Additionally, some 30 local alumni also continue working to level the playing field for students and families in low-income Delaware communities.

Through its successful bid for Race to the Top funds in 2010, the state of Delaware has partnered with Teach For America to help extend its efforts to provide high-quality pathways to the classroom for aspiring teachers and principals.  Additionally, the Delaware General Assembly recently extended 2009 legislation that certifies Teach For America as a teacher preparation pathway for alternatively licensed educators for schools in under-resourced communities.

“We’re delighted about Gov. Markell’s participation in Teach For America Week and humbled by his support of our corps members’ work in their classrooms and in our community,” said Joe Moorman, executive director of Teach For America in Delaware. “Thanks to the partnership between Teach For America and the state of Delaware through Race to the Top, as well as through the Governor’s leadership to extend legislation enabling a certification path for our corps members, we’re excited by the opportunity to work alongside other efforts in our community to help provide all children with the educational opportunities they deserve.”

A growing body of independent research shows that corps members are having a positive impact on student achievement—including recent studies from Tennessee, North Carolina and Louisiana. The most recent research, from Tennessee, found that Teach For America corps members had greater impacts on student achievement than the average new fourth-to-eighth-grade teacher in the state across all subject areas and grade levels, and that Teach For America was the top new-teacher preparation program in the state.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today more than 9,000 corps members are teaching in 43 urban and rural regions across the country, while nearly 24,000 alumni are working across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Print