Teach For America’s 2015 Plan

1. Teach For America’s 2015 Plan Fueling an unstoppable movement to ensure that all children in this nation have the opportunity to attain an excellent education

2. 20 Years Ago, There Was No Such Movement Stand and Deliver (1988) “The students accomplish such miracles that Stand and Deliver plays a little like a fairy tale, even if it is based on a real story.” - The New York Times, March 18, 1988 “Let's stop lamenting the crisis and do something about it." Lean on Me (1989) Principal Joe Clark, a dedicated educator, was celebrated for his leadership in improving the culture of Eastside High in Patterson, New Jersey, but there was no evidence that the school’s academic results changed. - November 7, 1988 Fortune Cover Story The prevailing notion was that children's socioeconomic backgrounds determined their educational outcomes. 2

3. Today, Hundreds of Proof Points Show that Transformational Change is Possible Schools Systems • “Harlem charter students at schools like KIPP and Democracy Prep are outperforming their white peers in wealthy suburbs” – Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2010 • “The Amistad charter school has become a mecca for reform-minded educators, a driver of change in New Haven public schools” - New Haven Register, May 10, 2009 • “Network says ‘YES’ to college for all”-Education Week, Feb 25, 2009 • “The gap is finally beginning to narrow substantially” • – New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 19, 2009 • “Baltimore 4th-graders score better than expected on math” • – TheBaltimore Sun, Dec 9, 2009 • “District leaps forward in math” • – Washington Post, Dec 9, 2009 • “We can’t keep sitting idly by while parents send their kids to charters” • - HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, Feb 20, 2010 Wherever there is transformational change, there is transformational leadership. 3

4. Over the Past 5 Years, We’ve Grown the Pipeline of Transformational Leadership 2005 2010 • 3,600 corps members in 22 sites • Mathematica study shows that corps members make more progress in reading and math than would typically be expected • 8,800 alumni*, including: • 153 school leaders and 3 elected officials • 5,800 in education, including 3,000 teaching and hundreds more working to improve the system from other positions • 8,200 corps members in 39 sites • Growing evidence that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement • Urban Institute / CALDER study • Louisiana value-added study • University of North Carolina study • More than 20,000 alumni, including: • 554 school leaders and 45 elected officials • 13,000 in education, including 6,800 teaching and thousands more working to improve the system from other positions • Nearly 4,300 in jobs related to education or serving under-resourced communities Teach For America has played a crucial role in fueling the larger movement. 4 *2005 and 2010 alumni figures are extrapolated from annual alumni social impact report data gathered in those years

5. Still, Much Remains to be Done 50 percent of students in low-income communities will not graduate from high school by the time they are 18 years old*; those who do graduate perform, on average, at the level of eighth graders in higher-income communities** By age 24, fewer than 10 percent of young people from low-income families have attained a bachelor’s degree, compared with over 75 percent of people from high-income families*** Despite all the progress and all the evidence that children in low-income communities excel when they are given the opportunities they deserve, the achievement gap persists on an aggregate level. * Editorial Projects in Education/Education Week, “Diploma Counts,” 2009. ** On average, 12th graders whose family income makes them eligible for free or reduced lunch scored at roughly the same level on the 2005 NAEP reading assessments as 8th graders from wealthier families. ***“Bachelor's Degree Attainment by Age 24 by Family Income Quartiles, 1970 to 2008.”  Tom Mortenson www.postsecondary.org.  5

6. To Fulfill our Potential as a Force For Change, We Must Become Still Bigger and Better Four Organizational Priorities Grow in scale while increasing diversity Maximize corps member impact on student achievement Foster the leadership of our alumni as a force for change Build an enduring institution Four Supporting Initiatives Diversity & inclusiveness Knowledge sharing STEM Early childhood education Accomplishing ambitious goals in these areas will fuel an unstoppable movement by generating a growing pipeline of transformational leadership. 6

7. We Must Continue to Grow… Incoming corps by year Total alumni by year Over 15,000 corps members will be teaching 930,000 students across 60 communities 2000 2005 2010 2015 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2030 By 2015 we will be one of the largest-scale interventions in public education, providing 20-25% of new hires across 60 of the highest-need urban and rural communities and building the foundation necessary to expand our leadership force to nearly 155,000 over the next twenty years. 7

8. While Increasing the Number of Corps Members Who Share the Racial and Economic Backgrounds of our Students African American Latino People of Color Low-Income Backgrounds Diverse representation at “Most” and “More” Selective Schools** 2009 Incoming Corps Representation Result 2015 Incoming Corps Representation Goal Unfortunately, we ourselves are confronting educational inequity in this pursuit, given the lack of diversity at nearly 400 of our nation's top colleges Our Goals By 2015, the incoming corps will have nearly twice as many African American corps members and corps members of color as in 2010, twice as many corps members from low-income backgrounds, and more than 2.5 times the number of Latino corps members Low-Income Backgrounds # of 2010 corps members of this background Projected # of 2015 corps members of this background To be successful, we must be more diverse than the campuses which provide the greatest numbers of students who are academically equipped for the challenge of Teach For America. * Defined as corps members who have received Pell Grants ** 2015 projections for the percentage of US college students in each demographic group graduating from the approximately 400 colleges that U.S. News and World Report defines as “most” and “more” selective. Includes international students 8

9. We Must Develop Transformational Teachers Strengthening Direct Engagement with Corps Members Evaluating and Measuring Student Progress Effectively • Improving one-on-one coaching of corps members • Using technology to improve methods for delivering training and support • Enhancing content- and grade-level-specific planning and instructional tools • Providing corps members with access to strong assessments • Providing good benchmarks showing the growth of students in 75th percentile classrooms on the same assessments Better Understanding and Predicting Teacher Success • Researching the drivers of teacher improvement and impact • Refining our Teaching As Leadership rubric for teacher development • Improving predictive selection model and assessment tools We are aiming for our corps members to achieve as much student growth, on average, as 75th percentile teachers, for the sake of their students and of the lessons they learn to inform a lifetime of educational leadership and advocacy. 9

10. We Must Accelerate the Leadership of our Alumni to Meet the Most Pressing Needs in Education Reform Strong Educational Leaders • 15,000 alumni teachers leading their students to academic success* • Nearly 14,000 in other education roles, including 5,000 in non-teaching roles in schools, districts, and system administration • Hundreds of alumni serving on charter school boards • 1,300 alumni leading schools • 90 alumni will serve as superintendents and/or senior cabinet members in school districts or charter school network Informed Political Leaders, Policy Advisors and Advocates • Teachers making their voices heard in policy debates without leaving the classroom • Thousands of alumni supporting advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national levels through their contributions, volunteerism, and engagement • 160 alumni will serve as advocacy leaders • 170 alumni will serve as policy leaders • 200 alumni will hold elected office Leadership Initiative Goals Broader Impact By 2015, we will have more than 44,000 alumni addressing this problem from every angle, including thousands in leadership roles that we know are particularly crucial Innovators • Thousands of alumni working in education nonprofit and for-profit ventures to execute and spread innovative practices • 35 alumni will launch original, high-potential social ventures Through our alumni leadership initiatives, we aim to accelerate the pace of change in communities across the country and nationally as well. 10 * 2015 broader impact projections extrapolate from our current alumni base

11. We Must Build a Strong Organization In Order To Reach Our Goals Organizational diversity Satisfaction, inclusion, and stewardship of corps members and alumni Staff, financial, and brand strength • 33% of our staff will be people of color, including 11% who are African American and 8% who are Latino. 28% of our staff are from low-income backgrounds. No gaps exist for management • 30% of national and 25% of regional board members will identify as people of color • 60% of alumni will donate time/money, which is on par with the highest levels of alumni giving at colleges and universities • Average net promoter score* among corps members and alumni will be 50% (with no gaps by race/ethnicity), which aligns with top benchmarks at universities that use this measure • “Grand Mean” on Gallup’s organizational strength measures will be in the 90th percentile • 9% of prospective recruits, 46% of parents of prospective recruits, and 6.3% of prospective donors, will express strong intent to apply, support their child’s decision to apply, or donate, respectively • We will maintain an operating reserve that equals 25% of our projected expenses We must build an organization that is diverse, inclusive and engaged; financially, operationally and technologically sound; and well-regarded so that we are able to thrive as long as necessary to address this problem. 11 * % of Promoters minus Detractors in response to the question, “How likely are you to recommend to a friend or family member applying to become a TFA CM?”

12. We Will Prioritize Diversity & Inclusiveness at Every Level Ensure our corps, staff, and boards reflect the diverse nature of our communities Provide corps members and staff with the necessary skills to thrive and lead within diverse environments Enhance awareness of and support for Teach For America in communities of color Establish leadership and accountability structures that ensure consistent focus and progress Foster an inclusiveculture where corps members and staff feel valued and can do their best work We must build on the investments we’ve made to ensure our corps, alumni force, staff, and boards are diverse and engaged. 12

13. We Will Continue to Share What We Learn About Excellent Teaching Sharing What Works To more broadly share our knowledge of what excellent teaching looks like, we recently published a Teaching as Leadership book and TAL Online Navigator (TALON) that encapsulate our in-house teacher development rubric. The TALON website contains video illustrations, written documents and other annotations to support the book content. “Every teacher, principal, and superintendent should read this book. Over the last two years, we have seen our students’ reading, writing, and math skills improve significantly. The principles outlined in Teaching As Leadership have played a critical role in our progress.” —Andres Alonso, chief executive officer, Baltimore City Schools www.teachingasleadership.org Teach For America can be an important source of innovation and research to inform broader efforts to strengthen the teaching profession. 13

14. We Will Place a Particular Focus on the Areas of STEM and Early Education The Problem Growing the Force for STEM Change • Fewer than four of 10 fourth- and eighth-graders are proficient in mathematics • In science, our students fall behind countries such as Canada and the Czech Republic • As relative global performance lags, significant scoring gaps between white students and their Hispanic and African American peers persist. We will continue to dedicate resources to attracting the most qualified math, science and engineering majors and enhancing our training and professional development resources. By 2015 over 4,200 corps members will be teaching math and science. Math and Science Growing the Force for ECE Change The Problem We will help catalyze progress in early childhood education through expanding our placements in pre-K and K classrooms and doing even more to ensure these teachers are prepared to address the range of social, emotional, and academic needs of young children. • Half of the achievement gap between white and African American 12th graders is present before kindergarten starts* • Infants and toddlers in low-income communities are exposed to around one-third the number of words as children from more affluent communities Early Childhood Education We will increase our effort to expand opportunities for today’s students while fueling fundamental reform in STEM and Early Education. 14 * According to Nobel Laureate of Economics James Heckman

15. Reaching Our Goals Will Be Very Challenging To reach our 2015 goals, we will need: • On and off-campus support to generate as many as 90,000 applicants • State, district, and school-level support across existing regions and 20 new regions to secure 15,000 placements • Public and private sector championship to raise $440M annually • Exceptional staff talent and leadership • Exceptional regional and national board leadership We will only meet our goals if campus, community, and national leaders prioritize this effort, and with extraordinary staff and board leadership. 15

16. But In Doing So, We Will Fuel an Unstoppable Movement to End Educational Inequity Our 44,000 alumni will further accelerate the pace of change: By 2015, we will see the needle moving against educational inequity in more communities and in aggregate terms nationally • Leading their classrooms to academic success • Running schools that exemplify what is possible • Driving innovations within districts • Effecting policy changes at the local, state and federal levels • Generating new game-changing innovations that speed up the trajectory of our work Our 15,000 corps members will reach nearly 1 million students annually: • Making a meaningful difference in their students’ lives • Building conviction that this problem is solvable • Deepening their understanding of the solutions The leadership of our corps members, alumni, and staff will bring us measurably closer to our collective vision. 16

17. Our Collective Vision One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

18. Appendix: 2015 Goal Projections (1 of 2) • In FY10, only one region, Eastern North Carolina, was piloting this new continuous measure of student achievement. In FY11 8 regions and more than 1,200 corps members are utilizing this metric. We plan to roll out the continuous measure across the entire network in FY12. • Numbers in parentheses indicate percentage point gaps for people of color • FY11 is first year for separate school system leader goal. Accordingly, FY10 actual school leader count of 554 includes both principals and the 52 school system leaders broken out under school system leaders.

19. Appendix: 2015 Goal Projections (2 of 2) • Numbers in parentheses indicate percentage point gaps for people of color