Call for Submissions
Critical Education Special Series
“Teach for America and the Future of Education in the US”
Guest Editor: Philip E. Kovacs, University of Alabama, Huntsville
Founded in 1990 by Princeton graduate Wendy Kopp, Teach for America (TFA) has grown from a tiny organization with limited impact to what some supporters call the most significant force in educational reform today. Indeed the organization has recently been embraced by both the president of the National Educational Association and U.S. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan as a force for tremendous good.
Critics argue otherwise, pointing to data that is mixed at best while questioning the almost $500 million annual operating budget of the non-profit, a significant portion of which comes from U.S. taxpayers. In light of questionable results and practices (such as using non-certified TFA recruits to work with special education students in direct violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) organizations are working to end TFA’s “highly qualified teacher” provision in 2013, an effort TFA is aggressively trying to thwart.
In an effort to provide assistance to those organizations working to maintain the integrity of the teaching profession, the Critical Education seeks research on TFA’s practices, procedures, outcomes, and impacts. We are looking for empirical and theoretical pieces written in a style that congressional staffers can easily access and understand. We are not interested in pieces that sacrifice intellectual rigor for ease of reading, but we are also wary of overly theorized pieces that alienate readers outside of the academy.
In addition to full-length manuscripts (5,000-8,000 words), we are also soliciting short accounts of TFA’s impact in specific cities to be presented as “field reports.”
Proposals of no more than 200 words due by September 15, 2012.
Notice of acceptance of proposal by October 1, 2012
Final Submission due by February 1, 2013.
For more information on submission contact Philip Kovacs at: pk0001@uah.edu
Critical Education is an international peer-reviewed journal, which seeks manuscripts that critically examine contemporary education contexts and practices. Critical Education is interested in theoretical and empirical research as well as articles that advance educational practices that challenge the existing state of affairs in society, schools, and informal education.
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I am no great fan of Teach for America but this request for submissions feels more like a vendetta from the “establishment” than a dispassionate search for wisdom. Teacher education in most of our colleges and universities is completely inadequate in preparing teachers for the kinds of schools and situations in which they find themselves.
What is most needed is a revolution in teacher preparation. In case you haven’t noticed it, the revolution in higher education itself is moving faster than ever and too many individuals and institutions don’t even recognize it.
I would rather see a challenge for new designs for teacher preparation and leadership education. This year’s first graders will graduate in 2025–do you really think that current teachers, including those from Teach for America, are up to the challenge of preparing them?
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