Teach for America gets a good report card

What makes a good teacher? Experience helps. But a new study of Teach for America (TFA)—education’s version of the Peace Corps—shows that their novice high school teachers bring something to the classroom that trumps traditional training and experience. The advantage of having a TFA teacher is particularly strong in math and science, the study finds.

The results are eye-opening at a time when teacher quality is a front-and-center issue. Good teachers are a key to closing achievement gaps for low-income and minority students, researchers say, but there’s still much to be learned about how to get people into the classrooms where they’re needed—and how to ensure their effectiveness once they get there. Read more about the study in The Christian Science Monitor online.