TFA GNO 2021-2022 Annual Report

LEADING WITH OUR VALUES

MISSION

Teach For America finds, develops, and supports a diverse network of leaders who expand opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate.

GOAL

By 2030, twice as many children in communities where we work will reach key educational milestones indicating they are on a path to economic mobility and co-creating a future filled with possibilities.

Ge'ron Tatum Executive Director Teach

DearFriends,

As I look back on my first full year as Executive Director of Teach For America Greater New Orleans, I couldn’t be more proud of the work that our staff, corpsmembers,andalumniaredoingonbehalfofthestudentsandschoolswe serve With national teacher recruitment and retention rates at historic lows, we successfully recruited, trained, and developed over 100 corps members by the first day of the 2021-2022 school year and retained 96% of them in the classroom throughout the year When added to the existing 350 alumni teachers in the region, the Teach For America teaching force in Greater New Orleans was over 450 strong last year. Our year started with tragedy as Hurricane Ida and continued impacts of the pandemic kept us isolated from each other. But, by the end of the year, we came back together (in-person!) to celebrateourtriumphsasonecommunity.

With the advancement of Teach For America’s 2030 goal, I spent my first year in conversation with our community – from teachers to students to school and community leaders – so that I could fully understand TFA's unique value to the Greater New Orleans educational ecosystem. It's clear that our 32-year legacy has positioned TFA to be a leader in this work and we are grateful for the partners and allies we have worked side by side with during that time. Our impact is grounded in our organization's core values: Pursue Equity, Achieve Impact, Choose Courage, Act With Humility, Demonstrate Resilience, Learn Continuously, and Strengthen Community These values and the students we serve are at the heart of every decision we make and action we take to arrive at the day when all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellenteducation.

The core value of Strengthen Community is especially important to me as it has served as the foundational value of my work in education over the past 15 years. Through listening and connecting with our network, I know that much of our work ahead has to be built on strengthening our community and building a coalition of engaged and committed advocates for our schools and students.Astrongcommunitywilldelivertheimpactthatweseektomake.

Creating this report gave me the opportunity to reflect on how far we ’ ve come through the challenges of last year and all the years before –and how far we ’ ve yet to go to achieve our 2030 goal and educational equity for all children. It willrequireallofustocontinueworkingincommunitytogethertosupportour students, families, and educators Together, we can co-create a future filled withpossibilityforthestudentsofGreaterNewOrleans

Sincerely,

Ge'ronTatum ExecutiveDirector, TeachForAmericaGreaterNewOrleans

For America Greater New Orleans

"The core value of Strengthen Community is especially important to me as it has served as the foundational value of my work in education over the past 15 years...

A strong community will deliver the impact that we seek to make."

O R

Pursue Equity

Achieve Impact

Choose Courage Act With Humility

Demonstrate Resilience

Learn Continuously

Strengthen Community

Working shoulder to shoulder with students, educators, and community members,...

2021-

...corps members support the academic and personal growth of their students.

2022

The impact they have in the classroom fuels a

lifelong commitment... shapes the trajectory of

THE 2021-2022 CORPS BY THE NUMBERS

Since 1990, Teach For America has worked to overcome the barriers that keep many students from succeeding by recruiting high-quality teachers to serve in classrooms across Greater New Orleans. Our 2021-2022 corps is a diverse group of leaders with the passion and creativity to drive impact for their schools and communities, while committing to co-creating a future filled with possibility with and for their students.

100%

100% of principals agree that our corps members build strong relationships with their school community.

101 49 48

TOTALCORPSSIZE INCOMINGCORPS PARTNERSCHOOLS

SUBJECT PLACEMENT

English - 32%

Foreign Language - 4%

General Ed/Other - 13%

Math - 25%

Science - 10%

Social Studies - 16%

7300 STUDENTSIMPACTED BYCORPSMEMBERS

Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color Did not disclose

2021-2022 ALUMNI IMPACT BY THE NUMBERS

After their two years in the corps, most Teach For America alumni continue their careers in education. Some stay in the classroom, while others go on to serve as school or systems leaders and staff Regardless of the role, their experiences as TFA corps members shape their leadership trajectories and instill in them a lifelong commitment to education. Our alumni impact thousands of students through their work as educators, school leaders, and non-profit leaders across Greater New Orleans

OF ALUMNI IN GNO WORKED IN EDUCATIONALIGNED FIELDS

71% 73% 63

OF RECENT ALUMNI REMAINED IN THE CLASSROOM FOR A 3RD YEAR

350

ALUMNI WERE SCHOOL OR SCHOOL SYSTEM LEADERS

ALUMNI CONTINUE TO TEACH IN CLASSROOMS

9,450

STUDENTS IN GREATER NEW ORLEANS WERE IMPACTED BY TFA ALUMNI IN THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR.

DEMONSTRATE RESILIENCE

WE SEE EVERY CHALLENGE AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO THINK EXPANSIVELY ABOUT SOLUTIONS. WHEN FACED WITH OBSTACLES, WE DEEPEN OUR RESOLVE, ADAPT, AND PERSIST WITH OPTIMISM.

Teachers going into the 2021-2022 school year knew they were facing a variety of challenges, from COVID-19 protocols, hybrid and virtual learning, and students whose school and home lives had been disrupted by the pandemic. But there was more in store – during the last week of August 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in New Orleans. It was the strongest storm to ever directly hit the city and left many in the region without power for weeks. Many students and corps members were forced to evacuate from their homes, and those who stayed were left without electricity and other basic necessities. When corps members returned to their classrooms, they had to help bring stability to their students - and each other - in the most difficult of circumstances.

Following Hurricane Ida, TFA GNO activated our network to ensure that our community had access to the resources they needed. We set up a zoom call with FEMA for corps members and alumni who needed additional information, managed support services for impacted corps members, and helped connect community members with mutual aid.

Corps member Ireland McGaughey went to great lengths to support her school after the hurricane Many teachers had to take time off to address their individual needs Ireland helped them by creating materials for their students to engage with in their absence She also provided tutoring opportunities for students who fell behind.

C H O O S E

C O U R A G E

WE ACT ON OUR BELIEFS AND VALUES, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S HARD. WE CENTER OUR EFFORTS ON THE ASPIRATIONS OF OUR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

Alumna Towana Pierre-Floyd is the school leader at Frederick A Douglass High School, whose building was severely damaged during Hurricane Ida In order to ensure that her students could keep learning, she rallied her community behind her to find a temporary school building, created a strategic busing schedule for students to their new location, and worked with families to adjust to the changes. She also implemented trauma-informed practices to support her students.

Corps member Danniel Tigreros was in his second year of teaching when Hurricane Ida hit the city. His colleagues call him a “problem solver” who builds strong relationships with students and families. Seeing how extreme weather impacted his community, he invested his time in supporting environmental sustainability in New Orleans while volunteering with Green Light NOLA through the TFA GNO Outreach program

The 2021-2022 school required our community to come together in new ways. Alumni leaders built community coalitions to solve problems. Likewise, building community for corps members was critical so that they could support their students, families, and schools. The team at TFA GNO set up wellness communities for corps members and gave them opportunities to participate in community service activities through the TFA GNO Outreach program, which helped deepen their connections to New Orleans.

LEARN

WE OPERATE WITH CURIOSITY AND EMBRACE NEW IDEAS TO INNOVATE AND CONSTANTLY IMPROVE. WE TAKE INFORMED RISKS AND LEARN FROM SUCCESSES, SETBACKS, AND EACH OTHER.

CONTINUOSLY

As Teach For America continued to explore our strategy to achieve our 2030 goal in Greater New Orleans, we knew that alumni leadership development was integral to its success. In the 2021-2022 school year, it was energizing to see the impact of our second cohort of the TFA GNO Alumni Coaching Fellowship (ACF).

The ACF was created to help support the development of experienced mid-level teachers and to add instructional leadership capacity to schools that partner with Teach For America. Fellows developed valuable leadership and coaching skills while providing important resources to participating school partners through additional on-site support for TFA corps members in their first and second years of teaching. The work required constant learning and reflection as both the fellows and novice teachers they coached worked together to explore the challenges they faced in helping students achieve their goals.

13 ALUMNI COACHING FELLOWS

34 CORPS MEMBERS COACHED BY FELLOWS

2,400 STUDENTS IMPACTED BY THE FELLOWSHIP

100% OF FELLOWS WERE REATINED OR PROMOTED TO LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THEIR SCHOOLS

"One of the main reasons that I joined the Alumni Coaching Fellowship is that my school had a unique instructional model that focused on self-directed and project-based learning. I remember how overwhelming it was when I was a first year teacher and I wanted to make sure that the corps members at our school had someone who had a deep understanding of what supports worked well for students at our school."

“One of the teachers I coached through the fellowship has become the 'model' of specialized small-group instruction at our school, and it's been really aweinspiring to see! There were moments where she doubted if the school and teaching were actually the right fit for her. It became my job to coach and support her in how to advocate for herself, which allowed her to make her position one where she felt both comfortable and supported and also pushed to grow within the profession.”

“I wanted to broaden my impact by helping to expand and deepen new teachers' skillsets so that the best possible teachers would be in front of students, ultimately working toward an equitable education.”

WE WORK TO CHANGE PRACTICES, STRUCTURES, AND POLICIES TO REALIZE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY FOR ALL CHILDREN. AS WE DO SO, WE ACTIVELY EXAMINE OUR ROLES IN PERPETUATING INEQUITABLE SYSTEMS.

P U R S U EQUITY

In 2020, TFA made the decision to partner with the Racial Equity Institute (REI) to undergo a critical self-examination of our commitment to equity. Staff and community members had the opportunity to participate in REI’s Groundwater sessions, which used stories and data to present a perspective that racism is fundamentally structural in nature.

TFA GNO also worked to be more intentional in centering equity in our programming. To better understand how our corps members were impacting their students, our Student Voice Survey was taken by 881 students in grades 3 through 12 at 18 different schools TFA GNO staff used the results to provide guidance and resources to corps members in how to create more equitable classrooms. For example, if a corps member received responses from students that showed a need for more parent and caregiver engagement, coaches would work with the teacher to create a schedule of contacting parents and caregivers, send bi-weekly emails to families, connect with families for all students with failing grades, and reach out to families about exemplar student work and growth.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR PERSPECTIVES. WE SEEK DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT TO EVOLVE OUR THINKING AND ACTIONS.

W I T HUMILITY AC

Corps members had the opportunity to participate in a variety of community service activities through the TFA GNO Outreach program, which helped to strengthen their connections to communities across Greater New Orleans. Our partner organizations included Solitary Gardens, Son of a Saint, SOUL NOLA, and Green Light NOLA. .

TFA GNO organized regular volunteer events with Solitary Gardens, an organization in the Lower Ninth Ward that develops and cultivates gardens the size of solitary confinement cells to illustrate the legacy of slavery, structural racism, and our prison system. While supporting the work of this incredible organization, our teachers gained important insights into the impacts of incarceration on many of the families, students, and communities they serve.

WE ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR COLLECTIVE STRENGTH BY DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS, BUILDING DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COALITIONS, AND CHALLENGING ONE ANOTHER TO BE OUR BEST. WE ACT WITH EMPATHY AND EXTEND GRACE TO OURSELVES AND OTHERS.

In summer of 2022, Teach For America led its annual Summer Pre-Service training locally for the first time, allowing TFA GNO to train corps members in the communities we serve, while also building community with each other from day one. We partnered with Laureate Academy in Harvey, LA, which is led by TFA alumna Claire Heckerman-Whitehead. Corps members participated in pedagogical trainings while applying their learnings as teachers in Laureate Academy’s summer school for rising second through eighth grade students.

224

STUDENTS IMPACTED

30

2022 CORPS MEMBERS

S T R E N G T H E N

CORPS MEMBERS SURVEY

100%

C O M M U N I T Y

This Pre-Service model allowed new corps members to provide additional academic support and remediation to students whose learning had been disrupted by Hurricane Ida and the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 40% of students attended due to gaps in their academic performance during the school year. Second and third grade students received additional support through small group guided reading and math lessons to help address foundational gaps in their learning Results from the post Pre-Service corps members survey showed that their overall experience was a positive one

"I FEEL PART OF A COMMUNITY WHERE CORPS MEMBERS ARE DRIVEN TO HELP EACH OTHER INCREASE COLLECTIVE IMPACT."

WE PURSUE AMBITIOUS, MEANINGFUL OUTCOMES THAT LEAD TO ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL CHILDREN. WE HOLD OURSELVES TO HIGH STANDARDS, MAKE DATA-INFORMED DECISIONS, AND ORIENT TO LONG-TERM SUCCESS.

ACHIEVE IMPACT

“We know that highly effective teachers will transform results for kids. We wanted to help give new teachers the basic tools they need so they can become strong teachers in their first year. Being able to work together with TFA [to train new teachers] was a great opportunity to do that.”

- Claire Heckerman-Whitehead.

“Partnering with Laureate Academy for summer PreService gave our staff important insights into what our alumni and corps members are doing every day, both in front of students and behind the scenes. It reminded us why we all began and have stayed in the work so long."

- Jaime Behen

Clare HeckermanWhitehead (South Louisiana, '11) Head of School & Lead Founder, Laureate Academy Charter School

Jaime Behen (Oklahoma, '13) Managing Director, Corps Member Impact Teach For America Greater New Orleans

OUR SUPPORTERS

It is through working in partnership with our committed donors that we are able to strengthen community. Donor support allows us to recruit high quality teachers to lead classrooms and implement effective, innovative practices for teacher development and leadership. Through the collaboration of a coalition of education advocates, we can achieve Teach For America's 2030 goal of improving outcomes for students in Greater New Orleans.

$100,000 +

Anonymous

The Booth-Bricker Fund

Entergy Corporation

Louisiana Department of Education

The Walton Family Foundation

$25,000 - $99,999

Baptist Community Ministries

Capital One Financial Corporation

The Ella West Freeman Foundation

Goldring Family & Woldenberg

Foundations

Gustaf W. McIlhenny Foundation

Pro Bono Publico Foundation

Volunteer Louisiana

$10,000 - $24,999

Anonymous

Allstate Sugar Bowl Foundation

The College Football Playoff Foundation at the Dallas Foundation

Freeport-McMoRan Foundation

Cathy and Walter Isaacson

Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation

Jones, Walker L.L.P.

Tabitha and Michael Lewis Fund

Cathy and Mark McRae

Vanessa Miles

Gray and Mary Kay Parker

$2,500 - $9,999

The Almar Foundation

Mr and Mrs Robert S and Ann Boh

Burkedale Foundation

Lauricella Land Company Foundation

Mr & Mrs J Thomas Lewis Fund

Loving Family Fund

Pattabi Seshadri of the Boston Consulting Group, in honor of the employees of Entergy

Dana and Louis Shepard Donor

Advised Fund

William & Jane Sizeler

The Toler Foundation

OUR SCHOOL PARTNERS

We would not be able to achieve impact in New Orleans without the schools and charter networks that we partner with. By working together to hire, train, and develop leaders for local classrooms, we collectively empower our corps members to make a significant impact in our community. In the 20212022 school year, we were proud to partner with 38 schools across Greater New Orleans, including 23 that were founded or led by TFA alumni.

ARISE Schools

Arise Academy

Mildred Osborne Elementary School

Einstein Charter Schools

Einstein Middle School

Sarah T Reed High School

Independent Charter Schools

Bricolage Academy

Elan Academy Charter School

International High School of New Orleans

Jefferson RISE Charter School

Laureate Academy Charter School

Rooted School

Sophie B Wright Charter School

Success @ Thurgood Marshall

Warren Easton Charter High School

Collegiate Academies

Abramson Sci Academy

George Washington Carver High School

Rosenwald Collegiate Academies

Firstline Schools

Arthur Ashe Charter School

Firstline Live Oak Charter School

Langston Hughes Academy

Phillis Wheatley Community School

Samuel J. Green Charter School

KIPP New Orleans Schools

Booker T Washington High School

Frederick Douglass High School

John F Kennedy High School

KIPP Believe College Prep

KIPP Believe Primary

KIPP Central City Academy

KIPP East Academy

KIPP Leadership Academy

KIPP Leadership Primary

Educators for Quality

Alternatives

New Orleans Accelerated High School

IDEA Public Schools

IDEA Oscar Dunn School

ReNEW Schools

ReNEW Dolores T Aaron Academy

ReNEW Schaumburg Elementary School

ReNEW SciTech Academy

New Orleans College

Prep Charter Network

Cohen College Prep High School

Young Audiences

Charter Schools

Young Audiences - Burmaster

Young Audiences - Crocker

Young Audiences - Middleton

Teach

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