The senator and state representative for Athens’ district are split about a bill that would bring the controversial Teach for America program to Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich today will sign House Bill 21, which permits the state’s Board of Education to issue resident educator licenses to participants of Teach for America, said Connie Wehrkamp, deputy press secretary for Kasich’s office.
State Rep. Debbie Phillips (D-92nd), who voted against the bill, said she is concerned about the level of training students receive before becoming certified to teach. State Sen. Jimmy Stewart (R-20th), however, called this argument “nonsense.”
“It’s been a successful program in other states,” said Stewart, who voted in support of the bill. “We’re talking about some of the best and brightest college students in the state of Ohio.”
Stewart cited a study conducted last year by the University of North Carolina, which found that “at every grade level and subject studied, students taught by Teach for America corps members did as well as or better than those taught by the traditionally prepared (UNC) graduates.”
Last year, Teach for America placed 4,500 graduates out of the 46,000 who applied, according to the organization’s website. The non-profit organization trains recent college graduates to teach for two years in low-income schools.
Those accepted to the program are not required to have a degree in education.
Applicants are, however, required to have at least a 2.5 GPA, and the average GPA of participants is 3.6.
Participants, who are placed in schools across the country, complete a five-to-six week training program before they begin teaching.
Some, including Phillips, say that the five-to-six week training period might not be enough for those who do not already have an education degree.
“I think the young people who participate in the program are great people who want to help kids and help the community, but I do question the preparation and training they receive,” Phillips said.
Renée Middleton, dean of Ohio University’s Patton College of Education and Human Services, testified before Ohio’s House of Representatives in February with similar concerns.
“I am not opposed to alternative programs like (Teach for America) who recruit and train teachers, so long as there is an accompanying ‘required’ pathway for them to obtain the necessary training to become fully credentialed and certified,” Middleton said in an email. “Standard certified teachers who come through traditional programs like that offered by (OU) consistently outperform uncertified (Teach for America) teachers.”
Middleton cited a study from Stanford University that uses data from 1995 to 2002 to conclude, “certified teachers consistently produce significantly stronger student achievement gains (in math and reading) than do uncertified teachers.”
The study of fourth- and fifth-grade student achievement also found that “alternatively certified teachers are also generally less affective than certified teachers.”
Phillips said the program is not necessary for Ohio because the state does not currently have a shortage of teachers.
“(Ohio) is actually turning out more certified teachers than are employed,” she said. “… (Teach for America) seems to be most effective in states that are having trouble attracting teachers.”
Both Kasich and Stewart, however, have said they want to bring Teach for America to Ohio so that students who participate in the program will not have to leave the state after graduation.
“There are probably 300 Ohioans teaching in this program, and none of them are in-state,” Stewart said. “It would be wonderful if programs like this existed to keep some of our best and brightest students in Ohio.”
After the bill passed in the Ohio House of Representatives on April 13, Kasich applauded the program for this same reason.
“The best college students in the country are recruited to teach in the poorest school districts, and Teach for America has proven itself to be a very effective program,” Kasich said in a news release. “I am thrilled Ohio will now have the opportunity to bring these energetic and passionate teachers into our classrooms.”
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