TEACH FOR AMERICA
There are many critical problems affecting America's public education system, especially the lack of qualified teachers willing to work at troubled inner city schools. The teaching profession's human resource management process may be breaking down in its ability to find and retain the best teachers possible. The government service program Teach for America tries to solve this problem by training young, highly qualified college grads to teach at underperforming schools.

For a two-year period, Teach for America recruits work with students who are dealing with crises like poverty, insufficient nutrition, and low self-esteem. Although most participants use the program as a first step into an education career, others apply the lessons they learn from the program to many different professions. Ultimately, though, Teach for America's mission is to place more quality teachers into the schools that need them. Many Professional teachers avoid the challenges of inner-city schools, leaving these institutions understaffed. To the human resource managers of many public school systems, Teach for America recruits are an irreplaceable resource. That's because applicants are evaluated rigorously through a lengthy recruitment process. After applicants are interviewed by phone, they must then develop a prospective lesson plan.

If they pass that stage, they do an inperson interview, take a written test, and participate in a monitored group discussion with other applicants. In the end, only about 1 applicant in 10 makes it into the popular program. Once selected, Teach for America recruits go through a structured orientation and off-the-job training program that ends in job simulation exercises. The intensive five-week summer course prepares volunteers for the challenges and needs of the inner-city classroom. They are then assigned to a school, where they receive additional support and training. Since the job can be extremely challenging, Teach for America's relatively generous compensation package serves as a major motivator.

As teachers, recruits earn salaries comparable to other colleagues at their grade level. Teach for America closely evaluates the performance of its teachers to judge the overall effectiveness of the program. Teach for America alumni perform better than many of their counterparts, including some career teachers with more training and education. And even when performance is about the same, recruits may be filling positions that were otherwise impossible to fill because of lack of candidates and resources. Despite all the good work it's done so far, Teach for America knows that the American public school system still has a lot to learn about educating disadvantaged children. But with the more than 10,000 recruits it trains each year, Teach for America continues to provide challenged students with a fighting chance to fulfill their untapped potential.

1. What seems to be the primary reason why Teach for America teachers perform better than many other teachers?

2. What types of training do Teach for America recruits undergo before they are placed in the clssroom?

3. Why is a rigorous performance appraisal program a key part of the Teach for America program?