Urban Teachers

[Anonymous]

Apparently the math teacher my child has had this year at a DCPS middle school is from an organization called Urban Teachers. Sounds like something similar to Teach for America but is smaller and newer. This teacher has by far been the most challenged teacher I have encountered in my more than 10 years experience as a DCPS parent. The teacher seems really under water - can't teach the math and can't keep control over the class. It's really been a miserable year for my child who usually loves math class. I feel for the teacher because I'm sure its really hard to be a new teacher and I know there is a need for more teachers so I admire the mission, but I'm starting to question the organization's screening and training processes since things have not improved during the course of the year. Curious whether this is an isolated incident or whether this is a common problem with this organization which seems to be getting some good press. Has anyone else had an experience with teachers from this organization, positive or negative?

[Anonymous]

No experience with Urban Teachers, but I will tell you I was less than impressed with the 3 Teach for America teachers I've dealt with. 3 is a small sample size, but I wouldn't consider them up to the same standards of education-degree teachers.

[Anonymous]

I've heard we're getting one next year, but it's a resident (or something like that) who will one day be a teacher, but isn't quite yet. They'll basically be a teacher's aide with the goal of helping them develop into a teacher. But the class will still have a real teacher too.
Is yours teaching on their own?

[Anonymous]

Urban Teachers gives their teachers more training than Teach for America, as I understand. For TFA, teachers do a six week summer institute and start as full teachers in the classroom the following fall. They receive some coaching and follow up from the organization. The goal of TFA isn't for their teachers to stay in the classroom, but rather to do a two year stint in teaching and move on.

Urban Teachers has their students start with a summer program, then they are teaching assistants for a whole year with a mentor teacher in a classroom and take classes in educational pedagogy and instruction at night (they earn a Masters in education over the course of two years). The goal is for their teachers to remain classroom teachers.

I think UT does a much better job than TFA but of course it's always possible to get a bad teacher!

Source: DD was considering alternate route teaching programs and she looked into both these options, as well as some others, but decided not to pursue any of them.

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about Urban Teachers, but another issue with Teach For America is that their teachers are often placed outside of their content area. So they might be English majors teaching Science. Thus, not only do they not have a background in education but they also might only have a rudimentary understanding of the content they are expected to teach.

To be fair to both programs, the biggest challenge new teachers (regardless of their education background) will have is figuring out classroom management and dealing with behavior issues. This will also be the biggest reason a teacher will quit within the first few years of teaching.