Evaluation confirms Teach For Australia is strengthening the school leadership pipeline

Developing a leadership pipeline and attracting high-performing candidates who would not have otherwise become teachers are among the standout achievements of Teach For Australia, according to an evaluation report released today.

Commissioned by the Australian Department of Education, the report evaluates the impact of the education charity’s flagship Leadership Development Program under the federal government’s High Achieving Teachers (HAT) Program from October 2021 to mid-2023.

Teach For Australia CEO, Edwina Dohle, welcomed the evaluation which confirmed the program recruits and develops effective teachers, who progress to leadership faster than graduates of traditional teaching pathways.

“I’m delighted that Teach For Australia has been recognised for attracting high-achieving individuals, strengthening the leadership pipeline and producing teachers that are having positive impacts on students both academically and socio-emotionally,” said Ms. Dohle.

“We’re proud of our rigorous selection process, high-quality initial teacher preparation and wrap-around coaching, which equip our TFA teachers to excel in the classroom and step into leadership positions early in their careers.

“We continue to listen to our teachers, review, and refine our program to ensure we have the strongest evidence-based approach to preparing our teachers for success in the classroom and delivering impact for our partner schools and Australia’s teaching workforce,” continued Ms. Dohle.

“We are also continuing to work to enhance the flexibility of our program, for example through a three-year pathway to spread the study load and allow even more talented and passionate individuals to transition into teaching.”

Key Findings:

• We’re strengthening the school leadership pipeline
  LDP Alumni assume leadership roles at a significantly higher rate than graduates of traditional teaching pathways.

• We’re growing the teacher workforce by unlocking untapped talent
  We bring more great talent into the teaching profession, including professionals and graduates, who may not have otherwise entered the teaching profession. 
• We’re rapidly developing highly effective educators
  The LDP accelerates teacher development, enabling participants to match or exceed typical graduate teachers’ effectiveness by their second year. 
• We’re proud that recruitment and support are the most important and effective programmatic elements
  TFA stands out for its ability to recruit and support individuals with a strong passion for educational equity and the benefits of our recruitment approach ripple throughout, from high completion rates to a transformative impact on schools.

Read the final report