The summer before you begin teaching, Teach For America hosts a six-week training session in Houston.

At the end of May or beginning of June, you will get a chance to learn about our city and the work that is being done here. You will spend the rest of the training gaining the knowledge and skills to be successful in the classroom. This happens amongst fellow corps members at local schools in Houston.

We also offer ongoing training through Professional Development sessions facilitated by highly effective TFA alum and Houston educators throughout the year. 

Teach For America recruits remarkable and diverse individuals to become teachers in low-income communities. They commit to teach for two years and are hired by partner public schools across the country. During these two years they are called corps members. TFA trains and support corps members in the practices of great teachers and leaders. With hard work, perseverance and strong partnerships with their students, students’ families and communities, corps members can dramatically increase the opportunities available to their students in school and in life.

Diversity is at at the heart of TFA’s Foundation and they are dedicated to ensuring that teaching is a financially sustainable option for a diverse and effective teaching force. Over 75 percent of our corps are people of color, 41 percent are first in their family to graduate from college, and 54 percent are Pell Grant recipients. Teach For America partners with local school districts, universities, and other nonprofits to raise the bar for teacher training and student learning.

As a TFA corps member, you will partner with a manager of teacher leadership and development (MTLD) who will provide individualized coaching, support and guidance. Your MTLD will observe your classroom and provide feedback, coaching and support tailored to you and your students' needs; model instructional or leadership techniques and give guidance on building stronger relationships with your students, their families and community; and help you develop your leadership capacities to enact change in the short and long term. Throughout the year, you will celebrate progress and successes together.

Teach For America has a dramatic impact on students. TFA is one of the largest and most studied teacher-preparation and educational-leadership development organizations in the country. In 2016, What Works Clearinghouse published a review of seven independent research studies on the effectiveness of TFA corps members. This review—which looked at more than 65,000 students across multiple states—concluded that TFA corps members have positive effects on student outcomes, especially in math and science.