Kopp '89 delivers lecture on inequity in education

Teach for America has played a large role in shifting the educational landscape away from social inequity, Wendy Kopp ’89, the founder and chair of the board for TFA, saidduring a lecture on Monday.

Kopp, who came up with the idea for the teacher placement organization in her senior thesis, began her conversation by discussing the long-term, fundamental differences TFA has made toward bringing academic opportunities to students in districts with little to no educational resources or facilities. While the TFA commitment involves a two-year teaching period, Kopp said she believed the impact extends beyond that window of time, as TFA alumni have continued on in teaching and policymaking.

The biggest problem in the country, Kopp said, is that children receive different opportunities solely because of where they are born. While some students take college attendance for granted, those in urban areas are simply struggling to graduate from high school. Kopp urged the audience to take responsibility and reflect on these inequities.

“We need to deeply understand everything from the history of that community to the stakes for the kids and deeply come to understand the dynamics of the community so you can begin to see how this is playing out in the child’s life,” she said.

She added that people should be aware of the nature of the inequities and see how the status quo can be worsening educational disparities in many areas.She said the greatest resource of the U.S. is its people and that TFA channels educated college graduates to fill the needs of American school systems.

Kopp used the city of Newark to demonstrate the ongoing impact of TFA and educational reform initiatives. Twenty-five years ago, poverty and lack of opportunity meant that only five or six percent of secondary students in the district would receive a college degree, she said.

Today, she explained, there are 77 schools in Newark, and 20 of them are “transformative schools” in that they help students attain greater educational accomplishments than similarly situated schools. Seventeen of these schools have either hosted teachers from TFA or have principals who are TFA alumni.

Kopp said that a growing interest for TFA has been helping students sustain their academic success not only through high school but also through college.

“We’re about to see another revolution because we’re already seeing low-income students graduate college and still not get a job,” Kopp said. The approach must be more purposeful and aim to assure that the students gain what is necessary to end up on a path to fulfill their true potential.

Kopp noted that TFA’s approach has relied on teachers’ abilities to understand both the students and the community. By forming relationships with students, Kopp said that teachers are better able to understand the community’s values and aspirations, which is fundamental in making an impact on children’s lives.

“I’m excited about the sense of collective energy and communal success towards a purposeful aim that is deeply rooted in any given context [when providing educational opportunities],” she said.

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The lecture took place in McCosh 10 at 4:30 p.m. on Monday and was sponsored by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, Community House, USG Committee on Diversity and Institutional Equity and Teach for America.