The Effectiveness of Secondary Math Teachers from Teach For America and the Teaching Fellows Programs

High-poverty schools are increasingly using Teach for America (TFA) and Teaching Fellows in their classrooms. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Services commissioned the evaluation, which had the primary research question: How effective are TFA teachers and Teaching Fellows at teaching secondary math compared with other teachers teaching the same math courses in the same schools?

The study found that TFA teachers were more effective at raising math scores than both novice and experienced comparison teachers, and more effective in both middle and high schools. Teaching Fellows were more effective at raising math scores than novice comparison teachers, but were neighter more nor less effective than experienced teachers, and in middle and high schools.