One Day, All Children...: The Unlikely Triumph Of Teach For America And What I Learned Along The Way

by Wendy Kopp

Overview

From her dorm room at Princeton University, twenty-one-year-old college senior Wendy Kopp decided to launch a movement to improve public education in America. In One Day, All Children... , she shares the remarkable story of Teach For America, a non-profit organization that sends outstanding college graduates to teach for two years in the most under-resourced urban and rural public schools in America. The astonishing success of the program has proven it possible for children in low-income areas to attain the same level of academic achievement as children in more privileged areas and more privileged schools.

One Day, All Children… is not just a personal memoir. It's a blueprint for the new civil rights movement—a movement that demands educational access and opportunity for all American children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781586481797
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	04/03/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Wendy Kopp is the founder and chairwoman of the board at Teach For America, the co-founder and chief executive of Teach For All, and the author of One Day, All Children. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Preface	xi
1	The Thesis	3
2	Suspending the Laws of the Universe	13
3	When Idealism Isn't Enough	49
4	New Ideas	73
5	The Dark Years	77
6	Big Decisions	103
7	Reaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel	115
8	Upward Spiral	127
9	Taking Stock	147
10	Realizing the Vision	157
11	The Decade Ahead	181
	Afterword	187

Editorial Reviews

"If at the time I had understood the importance of ensuring the necessary funds before moving forward with new ideas, Teach for America would never have been born in the first place," writes Kopp in this impassioned account of how what started 10 years ago as her bold college thesis has become a pioneering educational program . Her plan to create a national teacher corps by recruiting top college graduates to work in the neediest school districts across the U.S. led to the development of a solidly financed nonprofit organization that has placed more than 5,000 teachers, many of whom have achieved extraordinary academic results. But Kopp's primary aim in this frank, winning and well-timed book is to share what she's learned about bringing underprivileged and underperforming students up to par. For example, she argues that just giving them the same resources that privileged students have is not enough; teachers and administrators need to put in the extra time it takes to change these students' attitudes about their own capability for achieving success. When it comes to structuring and managing schools, she asserts that schools should recruit teachers from a variety of disciplines not just those with degrees in education give them the support they need, pay them well and encourage them to push their students to fulfill their highest potential, which is often far beyond any arbitrary measure of achievement. As an outsider, Kopp has brought a fresh approach to the educational process that has proved effective; her inspiring story will challenge schools and professional educators to take notice, while motivating college seniors and recent graduates to join her team. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Kopp's dream as a college senior ten years ago was to commit two years to teaching at a public school in a low-income urban or rural area. She turned this seeming pipe dream into reality by mobilizing members of her generation to form a corps of graduates called Teach for America (TFA). Since 1990, some 5000 TFA members have been placed into teaching positions in 13 states, drawing high praise from participating communities. In this revealing account, Kopp invites the reader to learn what it took to overcome the endless challenges while describing some of the most difficult as well as funniest moments from the past ten years. This kind of accomplishment rarely adequately celebrated proves that excellence is possible. Recommended for all collections on education reform as well as volunteer movements. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L., FL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Since its inception in 1990, the Teach for America program has placed recent college graduates in two year teaching positions in low income and rural areas. In this text, Wendy Kopp, the program's founder, recounts her experiences from developing the initial idea during her senior year at Princeton, through struggles to keep the program going and Teach for America's current successes. The volume does not contain an index or bibliographical references. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews