A Think Twice Review of:

Evaluation of Teach for America in Texas Schools

Think Twice - Apr 09, 2013

Publisher/Think Tank - Edvance Research (Funded by Teach For America)

Author(s) -

This study by Edvance Research, with funding from Teach For America, claimed that TFA corps members and alumni had outsized impact on middle schools in several Texas districts.

Reviewer(s) - Ed Fuller, Penn State University Nathan Dadey, University of Colorado Boulder

Fuller and Dadey find that while the findings appear large enough to be relevant to public policy, several issues related to the report’s statistical model make it likely that the actual size of the TFA teacher effects differ than what is found in the report. The expert reviewers also have found cause for concern in sample construction, matching procedures and interpretations. Because of those limitations, Fuller and Dadey caution that the report does not provide solid evidence that either TFA teachers or TFA alumni have a measured effect on student test scores.