TNTP has to support all these people in NYC just for the Teaching Fellows program plus assorted other projects with the NYC DoE. Imagine if all ATR's were placed in jobs, jobs that would otherwise go to Teaching Fellows. Will that lead to TNTP having their own ATR's?
So, TNTP President Tim Daly issues a report blaming the ATR's for the problems.
If you have a dog in the race, BARK!
NYC Teaching Fellows [support]
Lesley Guggenheim, Program Director
Joseph Bywater, Senior Director of Operations
Gabriela Calderon, Selection Lead
Chris Casarez, Director of Placement
Dan Cayer, Recruiter
Alissa Ginsberg, Selection Lead
Paul Hawkins, Director of Technology
Kathryn Hayes, Director of Training and Support: Instructional Quality
Ellen Hur, Director of Marketing and Recruitment
Brandeis Johnson, Director of Training and Support: Development and Design
Jennifer Lee, Operations Associate
Kimberly McCann Fultz, Operations Team Manager
Michelle Mercado, Director of Selection
Crystal McQueen, Pre-Service Training Coordinator
Lindsey Payson, Training and Support Coordinator
Kristen Rasmussen, Communications Team Manager
Lindsey Reu, Communications Manager
Nahid Sorooshyari, Selection Lead
Deborah Teng, Marketing Lead
Liren Teng, Operations Associate
Maria Uruchima, Training and Support Associate
Melody Vargas, Placement Lead
Alice Walkiewicz, Placement Lead
Jessica Wedge, Recruiter
Check out their web site for other interesting tidbits.
5 comments:
When I went through the fellows, we were told that if we failed to secure a placement by the start of the school year that we would be placed on the teacher reserve and do substitute teaching until a position opened up. So, yes, I think you're correct (though they might technically be in a different reserve).
I'm still not sure exactly what this paper has to do with TNTP's mission, but I don't think it's to protect the fellows. Right now my working theory is that the NYCTF people on the ground are disconnected from the TNTP central research office.
Most likely you're right about the disconnect in terms of protection. But there is a mindset that is operating. Their very bureaucracy at all levels is dependent on keeping the flow of new teachers going.
I lived through the 15,000 layoffs in 1975 (I wasn't one of them) but almost no new people were hired (except in the fast expandign special ed) for around 10 years. Can you imagine if we had such a crisis today? The TF and TFA programs would conflict with the still operating seniority rules for layoffs and they would be wiped out.
By promoting a "get rid of ATR's, many of whom are incompetent" PR campaign, TNTP gives themselves a cushion.
The claim that TNTP is trying to protect its Fellows program or is trying to give themselves a "cushion" is a popular one and one that the organization has addressed directly on their website. Here's what they say about that claim specifically:
"We find this claim reprehensible and could not disagree more strongly. A non-profit organization, The New Teacher Project strives to improve teacher quality so that poor and minority students can get the education that our country has promised them. Accordingly, our programs respond and adapt to the needs of the local schools that they serve. We have never and will never advocate any policy position because it creates opportunities for our programs to hire more teachers. In fact, in keeping with our mission, we seek to increase the stability of school systems and increase average teacher retention so there is less hiring to do. We also focus on high-need subject areas such as math, science, and special education, and have voluntarily curtailed our programs in other subjects where the supply of teachers is greater.
We honor the service of all New York City teachers, including the more than 8,600 we have helped the city recruit, but our bottom line is maximizing the number of excellent teachers in classrooms, not seeking to ensure that they are recruited by our organization specifically. We look forward to the day when every child is taught by a high-quality teacher and cities like New York no longer need us to help meet their new teacher needs."
Take it for what it's worth. But if NYC got to a place where the TF or TFA wasn't needed anymore and the district could provide great teachers in EVERY classroom without any outside assistance, I'd imagine that these orgs would consider this a win and mission fulfilled.
Ah. The higher calling is what it is all about. They have a bureacracy and bureacracies function this way. They are no exception. But let's say you are right. The very idea that you can prepare someone in such a short time is in opposition to the quality teacher idea they espouse. While I am not opposed to the TF program - I entered teaching in such a program in 1967 and found myself woefully unprepared compared to the teachers who were trained.
That is not to say you can't make up some ground with enthusiasm but that is not quality.
We look forward to the day when they stop issuing biased self-serving reports that attack teachers unfairly.
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