A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America
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When Locke High School opened its doors in 1967, the residents of Watts celebrated it as a sign of the changes promised by Los Angeles. But four decades later, first-year Teach for America recruits Rachelle, Phillip, Hrag, and Taylor are greeted by a school that looks more like a prison, with bars, padlocks, and chains all over. With little training and experience, these four will be asked to produce academic gains in students who are among the most disadvantaged in the country. Relentless Pursuit lays bare the experiences of these four teachers to evaluate the strengths and peculiarities of Teach for America and a social reality that has become inescapable.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Does teaching have to be a twenty-hour-a-day job? Can it be a lifelong profession or does everyone burn out after a couple of years? Why is it so difficult? Why aren't more children learning? How can we make it better?
This is the story of a group of Teach for America teachers working in one of the worst schools in America, a high school in urban LA. Some of the stories were so horrible I couldn't imagine how I would last a month. Some of the teachers produced excellent results with the students, although moving from an average reading level of third to fifth grade when students are in high school is still leaving lots of room for growth.