Baltimore

Teach For America • Baltimore is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of nearly 250 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across Baltimore to ensure that students facing the challenges of poverty are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are leaders in the classroom, in education more broadly, and across all sectors. Together, they are making educational equity a reality in Baltimore. Learn about living and teaching in Baltimore.

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Corps Impact

Alumni Impact

Regional Supporters

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Executive Director

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Corps Impact

During the 2009-10 school year, nearly 250 corps members are directly impacting the lives of approximately 15,000 students in Baltimore. Sisi Dong and Danielle Roeder are examples of the tremendous difference our corps members are making.

Sisi Dong (Baltimore Corps '08) Undergraduate Institution: Dickinson College Undergraduate Major: English Danielle Roeder (Baltimore Corps '08) Undergraduate Institution: University of Michigan Undergraduate Major: Psychology

Sisi Dong spent all of last summer designing and implementing the first ever Advanced Placement English course at Doris M. Johnson High School. With the help and mentorship of Baltimore alumnus Chitamawe Mulwanda (Corps ’05), Sisi completed all necessary paperwork and coursework to ensure that her class would be in compliance with Advanced Placement criteria. The rigorous curriculum she prepared for her 12th graders included King Lear, The Color Purple, Oedipus Rex, and The Great Gatsby. As of mid-February, twenty-three of Sisi’s 26 AP English students have applied to attend college in the fall. One of Sisi’s students had been accepted to Howard University, Towson University, Coppin State University, University of Maryland, College Park, and University of Maryland – Baltimore County.

Danielle Roeder embodies what it means to involve her students and their families in their education to reach success. At the start of the year, Danielle set a goal that her first graders would grow, on average, 1.5 years in reading and average 80 percent mastery on prioritized math standards provided by the district. To make this happen, she reviews goals daily with her class and communicates consistently with parents about their children’s progress throughout the year. Danielle’s first graders track their own progress, both on her computer and on a class chart in order to keep them invested in their achievements. Danielle also teaches her students about malleable intelligence and the fact that the “more we learn, the bigger our brain gets”. Due to Danielle’s relentless work, her students surpassed their goals. Students grew, on average, 1.82 years in reading and averaged 84 percent on their math standards.

 

Principal Satisfaction

• Approximately 95 percent of recently surveyed Baltimore principals (in schools with Teach For America corps members) reported that they would consider hiring another Teach For America teacher.*
• 95 percent of principals in the Baltimore region rated the impact on student achievement of the Teach For America teacher(s) at their school compared to that of other beginning teachers they had worked with as “Average” or higher.*

*"Teach For America 2009 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2009.

Impact on Student Achievement
A growing body of research shows that corps members have a positive impact on their students' achievement. Read more about our impact.

Student Profile

• Students served who are eligible for free/reduced lunch: 73%*
• Students served who are African-American and/or Latino: 89%*

*Percentages vary by school district

Baltimore: Corps Member Placement

Assignment	% of Corps*
Elementary School, Lower (1-2)	7%
Elementary School, Upper (3-5)	11%
Secondary Math	9%
Secondary English	25%
Secondary Science	14%
Secondary Social Studies	17%
Secondary Foreign Language	16%
Secondary Other	1%

*Percentages are rounded and may not add up to 100 percent

Characteristics of the 2008 Corps

Corps Profile
Average GPA: 3.6
Average SAT: 1344
Held leadership roles on campus: 89%
People of color: 30%

*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America

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Alumni Impact

Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 600 Teach For America • Baltimore alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.

• Nationally, more than 60% of corps members continue to work in education,
  including more than 360 who are school leaders.
• 93% of all alumni report they are supporting Teach For America’s mission
  through their career, volunteer activity or graduate study.
  

Shannen Coleman (Baltimore Corps ‘03) Education: University of Southern California Current Position: Academic Director, Child First Authority Inc. and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD)

Shannen works with educators, parents, students, community leaders, nonprofits and corporations to ensure students have safe, productive after-school options by organizing community members and leaders to impact policy and creating an engaging curriculum for students that compliments their school curriculum.

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Regional Supporters

We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in Baltimore. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.

Advisory Board
Jan Rivitz (Board Chair) The Aaron and Lillie Straus Foundation
Rheda Becker Community Leader
Bruce Behrens Brown Advisory
Noel Carroll M&T Bank
Jacqueline C. Hrabowski Community Leader
Maureen Kennedy Community Leader

Bonnie Legro The Abell Foundation

Mark Lerner Chesapeake Partners Management Co.

Donald A. Manekin (Outgoing Board Chairman) Seawall Development Company

Betsy S. Nelson Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers

Dwight Taylor COPT Development & Construction Services, LLC

Rhona Wendler Community Leader

Paul Wolman Feats, Inc.

Christy Wyskiel CWW Research

 

End of Year Report:

For a detailed look at the impact of our corps members in Baltimore and the program and financial status of Teach For America · Baltimore, please read our End of Year Report.

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Contact

To support Teach For America • Baltimore with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:

Teach For America • Baltimore
Courtney Cass, Executive Director
2601 N. Howard St
Suite 300
Baltimore, MD 21218
p 410-662-7700, f 410-662-1746
courtney.cass@teachforamerica.org

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Executive Director

Courtney Cass leads Teach For America's Baltimore region and its 320 corps members who collectively reach more than 19,000 students. Courtney joined Teach For America in 2008 as the director of district strategy on Baltimore's regional team and later transitioned to the role of managing director of development. Prior to joining Teach For America's staff and after finishing law school, Courtney clerked for United States District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz. During law school, Courtney co-founded and led the student organization Child Advocacy, Research, & Education and was awarded the Family Law Book Award. A 2000 corps member in New York, Courtney taught second grade for three years, where she ran an after school storytelling program and was named Second Grade Lead Teacher. Courtney received her B.A. in Political Science at Columbia University, her M.S. in Teaching at Pace University, and graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law.