Donna Foote

As a former Teach for America teacher who taught in Los Angeles, I could perhaps be the target audience for this book. Aptly named "Relentless Pursuit" follows the lives of four first year teachers and other young education reformers associated with Teach for America. Donna Foote captures many of the challenges, absurdities, and emotional highs and lows that come from teaching in an under-resourced school district. Reading about these teachers took me back and helped me to reflect on my own show more first year of teaching. I found myself nodding in agreement and reminiscing as the teachers shared their thoughts on teaching. Foote also addresses many of the criticisms faced by Teach for America. For the most part, I believe the teachers handle themselves well, and criticism comes easily from those not teaching in an urban school district. After the teachers, Locke High School is an overwhelming presence. For those interested in the challenges of teaching in an urban high school, or if your interest is for the lives of the students of Los Angeles, this book is an amazing eye-opener. Much like Jonathon Kozol's work, it exposes the disparity and challenges faced by children in school districts we pass by every day. Although the book combs over some of the inner workings of Teach for America (which is also interesting), its true value comes from its emotionally raw recounting of teaching your first year in a difficult environment. It heartened me to see Teach for America represented by such able teachers. Any teacher undertaking the challenges of urban education is a hero, and this chronicle further cements the need for energetic and committed individuals to enter the classroom. show less

Marie Kent:

I admit it. I considered Teach for America. I suppose you could say it was a “Plan B” for me. But after reading this book I realize as a “Plan B”er I never would have made it. Never mind the rigorous admissions process involving rounds of interviews and calculated formulas, the duties bestowed upon TFA corps members demand nothing less than amazing tenacity and voracious devotion. Foote’s book weaves stories of four young teachers at a South Central Los Angeles high show more school with historical accounts of the birth and growth of the organization which, since its 1990 founding, has taken on the monumental task of closing the U.S. educational achievement gap. These corps members represent a select few of the many thrown into the most desperate classrooms after only one summer of intense training. This is a book that informs as much as it challenges, addressing criticisms and spotlighting the problems that face so many of America’s young and disadvantaged. A humbling read not just for this former TFA enthusiast but also for those interested in learning more about Teach for America and the discrepancies within our country’s public education system. show less

Journalist's write-up of TFA that works hard to stay balanced. Since this book is now ten years old, its chapter on evaluations of TFA is outdated, citing only the Mathematica RCT as far as causal research goes.

There are some odd word choices in this book that I found off-putting. Female college students are frequently referred to as "coeds" which is gross. There are some strangely sexist descriptions of female teachers that I wasn't sure what to make of. Some strange instances of broad show more generalizations made about racial groups, too. In all of these cases, the author didn't abjectly cross the line into racism and sexism but came uncomfortably close for me. show less

Donna Foote does a pretty good job of balanced reporting as she follows several TFA "corps members" through their first year in an LA high school. She represents their passion and energy, their disillusionment and "reillusionment", and their successes without completely endorsing The Program.

As a "career teacher" (kinda) and an employee
of a wealthy private school (totally), I am deeply conflicted about TFA and this book did nothing to bring me down on either side of the fence. These show more teachers are passionate, but utterly unpracticed (and untested); they are not yet burned out (and yet they almost ALL LEAVE when their two years are up, if they make it that long); they are only assigned to schools that ALREADY have gigantic turnover -- but they do seem to make a difference in their short tenure.

Two things that were somewhat compelling -- the principal of the school in question described his conversion from anti- to pro-TFA as coming to see them as soldiers. We have a volunteer army in which people enlist for brief, finite amounts of time (at least, we used to before GWB's endless war kicked in), they receive brief but intense training, and then they learn on the job, so to speak. (Although, as I write this, don't you think we might be doing a bit better in Iraq if our soldiers needed to take a tyear-long credentialling program, pass a Middle East proficiency exam and spend a year observing a "master soldier"? Hmm.)

The other was a quote from Wendy Kopp, the founder of TFA, who said that part of the goal of TFA was not only to provide excellent teachers for underserved areas, but to grow a network of Leaders who would have first-hand experience of educational inequity. So that, once they leave TFA, and go to law school, and then run for office, the Crisis in Education will be seared into their personal values and commitments.

That actually makes a lot of sense, copout though it is in terms of address the "teach-for-awhile" stigma.

My personal feeling is ... I was such a terrible teacher in my first year, and I'm so much better now. It has nothing to do with the ridiculously stupid and worthless credentialing program I went through, and everything to do with experience, confidence and SEEING OTHER TEACHERS DO THEIR THING (even the bad ones!). What we ought to have is apprenticeships, where you pass a few tests to weed out the total idiots, then spend a year or two being an OBSERVATIONAL AIDE in a classroom in the field where you want to work. You get paid, the teacher gets some assistance, you get to see how to do it or not do it, and then you've got experience to draw on before you ever enter a classroom. Fit some student teaching in there somewhere. Maybe some of the methods classes. Who knows?

And -- go year-round. There, I've said it. 4 days a week of regular curriculum, 1 day of enrichment or remedial instruction for the kids, 1 day of planning for the teacher. ALL YEAR ROUND. And all those teachers who took the job simply so they could veg by the pool in July and August (and because the coursework is sooo easy) can go work in fast food. show less