Monthly Archives: January 2012

Why I did a third year of TFA and why you should too

Posted on January 30, 2012 by garyrubinstein

Despite the TFA PR that claims that 60% of TFA teachers keep teaching for a third year, the reality, according to a study at Harvard University, is that about 44 percent of corps members remain at their original placement schools … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 11 Comments

The Ringer

Posted on January 18, 2012 by garyrubinstein

A few months ago, I got an interesting email from TFA: From: alumni.teaching.awards Subject: Teach For America Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching Date: Friday, June 24, 2011, 11:16 AM Dear Gary, As a teacher who has been recognized for … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 11 Comments

The Answer To The $125,000 Question

Posted on January 11, 2012 by garyrubinstein

Two years ago I first heard about a new Charter School in New York City called The Equity Project, founded by a TFA alum named Zeke Vanderhoek.  There was an article in The New York Times about how they were … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking | 21 Comments

The ‘three great teacher’ study — finally laid to rest

Posted on January 7, 2012 by garyrubinstein

In today’s New York Times there was a story about a research study which supposedly proved that students who had teachers with good value-added scores were more successful in life. This inspired me to complete something I have been working … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Research | 18 Comments

Turnaround Is Unfair Play

Posted on January 6, 2012 by garyrubinstein

Superman has arrived and he takes Visa. As districts get more and more desperate trying to reach 100% proficiency by 2014, they begin to turn to a new breed of ‘experts.’ These experts claim that they hold the secrets to … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking | 17 Comments