Andrew Doyle's in The News!
see the full story online here
and as a pdf here
Andrew Doyle, left, helps Jamal Bullock
with ninth-grade algebra at Southern High School in Durham,
where Doyle teaches three math classes. This is his second
year of a two-year stint with Teach for America.
Andrew Doyle walks among his
ninth-grade algebra students, checking their work. Doyle,
who studied finance in college, uses spreadsheets to track
the kids' understanding and progress.
Teach for America
touches local schools
Idealistic recruits
fill need for specialized instructors in poor districts
Samiha Khanna, Staff Writer
DURHAM - When he graduated from college, Andrew Doyle walked
away from an investment banking job that promised long hours
and a comfortable salary. He instead chose an even harder
job for about half the pay -- teaching high school math.
"My whole life, I've been drawn to teaching," said Doyle,
24. "That moment where you help someone understand something
they didn't get before -- that's why I come back every day."
Doyle is in his second year at Southern High School, a job
he landed through Teach for America. The national program
trains top college graduates to teach in the country's
poorest school districts.
The group this year has placed more than 5,000 fledgling
educators in classrooms, nearly 150 of them landing in its
district for Eastern North Carolina, which covers Durham and
Johnston counties. An additional 130 teachers work in the
Charlotte area.
Though the nontraditional teachers commit to only two years
in the classroom, principals say these young, energetic
workers are filling a need. They take jobs at tough schools.
They teach math, science and students with special needs --
positions that have become notoriously hard to fill.
In Durham, 22 people from Teach for America are working in
middle schools and high schools. Four Johnston County
schools have nine teachers from the program. Halifax, Vance
and Northampton counties each have more than 20 workers
trained by Teach for America, said Alex Quigley, director of
the program's Eastern North Carolina operations.
"I wouldn't mind having a whole school with them," said
Betty Bennett, principal of Corinth-Holders Elementary in
Johnston County, which has four such teachers.
The organization was founded in 1990 by Wendy Kopp, dreamed
up in her undergraduate thesis. Since then, it has grown
into a nonprofit company with an operating budget of more
than $100 million, and one of the most competitive
post-graduate programs in the country. Last year, more than
18,000 college graduates competed for spots in Teach for
America, including 10 percent of the graduating class at
Duke University.
The company's aim is to bring equal educations to children
in low-income communities, where overburdened school
districts often can't provide the same education as wealthy
districts or attract the same caliber of teacher.
Motives for signing up
Applicants are chosen based on talent and leadership
experience, among other factors, and undergo five weeks of
intense training right after graduation. The members, the
majority of whom majored in something other than education,
soon land a classroom of their own. The experience is
challenging, daunting, frustrating and satisfying.
"My best friend from college is on Wall Street," said Bailey
Cato, a teacher at Durham's Githens Middle School. "The
disparity in our incomes is rather large, but I'm happier
than he is."
These new graduates give up their track records of success
to do something they're not sure they'll be good at. Many
are attracted to helping underserved groups. Others use
Teach for America as a launching pad for other careers. In
past years, the program has even paid off $9,000 in student
loan payments for each participant.
Ups and downs
Doyle is halfway through, familiar now with 12- and 14-hour
days. He teaches three math classes, helps with the
parent-teacher-student organization and coaches the
cross-country team.
He pores over spreadsheets to track what lessons his
students understand and where they've made progress. Often,
his students' moods can determine whether the day goes well.
"I'm giving all I have, and to not be successful is very
different," said Doyle, a graduate of Marquette University
who grew up in Iowa. "But success is all about where you
look."
There's a long list of people Doyle is accountable to,
including mentors from his school and from Teach for
America. His program also requires him to attend monthly
professional development sessions.
The program has some outspoken critics who are uncomfortable
with the fact that Teach for America teachers start their
jobs as uncertified teachers, earning an alternative
certification during the first year, sometimes through
online programs.
Studies have compared student test results for Teach for
America members and their traditionally educated
counterparts. A 2004 study by Mathematica Policy Research
shows that students taught by Teach for America teachers
perform well on state standardized tests that measure yearly
progress in reading and math; on average, the students
exceeded state growth expectations, the study said.
But another study, released a year later by a Stanford
University researcher, took shots at the program, pointing
to results that show students of certified teachers
performed better on reading and math tests than students of
uncertified educators.
'Doing heroic things'
Quigley insists the teachers in the program excel in their
talent, commitment and expectations.
"Our teachers are truly doing heroic things," said Quigley,
who before becoming a regional director taught in the
Mississippi Delta.
"I do feel like we're beginning to ... make an impact."
Most teachers in the program move to districts that struggle
to land highly qualified teachers. Often, more attractive
school systems land the educators with more desirable
resumes.
And for principals in some of those struggling districts,
knowing a teacher will likely leave in two years isn't an
obstacle to hiring from Teach for America.
"I'd much rather have a great teacher for two years than not
at all," said Emmett Tilley, principal of Githens, which
employs seven teachers from the program, including
eighth-grade language arts instructor Justine LaMantia.
Upon arriving at Githens last year, LaMantia started a
literary magazine and helped take five middle schoolers on a
tour of Harvard.
"It was to show these students that no matter where you come
from, you can still make it," LaMantia said.
The program's ultimate mission is not necessarily to create
lifelong educators, Quigley said, but lifelong advocates.
Even after their two-year stints, alumni shape policy
through other work, from courtrooms to board rooms, he said.
Still, many -- more than 60 percent, Quigley said -- stay in
education, whether in a classroom or in an office. Wherever
they go, their classroom experiences influence their work
and their causes, he said.
"A big part of making change ... is about getting more
people committed to this issue."
