Improve student and school outcomes

Almost 90 per cent of principals find that Associates are more effective than other graduates at improving student outcomes after two years in the classroom and all principals agree that Associates increase student wellbeing and engagement at school.

We support partner schools to increase their capacity to support all their students.

Associates take on initiatives throughout their schools and communities to support school-wide improvement, including:

• joining school improvement teams;
• coordinating student representative committees;
• leading extracurricular activities such as debating, theatre or sports;
• contributing to curriculum development or text book chapters;
• mentoring other teachers;
• organising student study tours; and
• starting subject study clubs.

“Teach For Australia Associates have been a catalyst for change at Horsham College. The energy, aspirations and commitment of Associates have been harnessed to create a better school environment and ultimately impact on student outcomes.”
– Rob Pyers, Principal, Horsham College, Victoria

We support Associates to measure their effectiveness as teachers and impact on student outcomes.

Associates measure their impact using a number of tools, including:

• standardised and classroom-based assessments;.
• student perception surveys of teacher practice;
• student surveys related to character, attitudes and aspirations;
• classroom observations aligned to an evidence based framework that correlates with other measures of teacher impact; and
• principal, mentor and Associate impact surveys.

These tools help guide coaching, training and development of Associates and, where possible, give us an aggregate picture of their collective impact.

This student impact is also occurring internationally.

A 2010 study found that Teach First teachers in their second year compared favourably with an international sample of experienced as well as less-experienced teachers. (Muijs et al 2010)

In 2013, an Institute of Education study found that the General Certificate of Secondary Education results of Teach First partner schools improved by an extra third of a grade per student per subject, compared to similar schools without Teach First teachers. (Allen and Allnutt 2013)

A 2013 randomised control trial showed that Teach For America teachers were progressing their middle and high school maths students by 2.6 months more per year than other teachers in the United States system. (Clark et al 2013)

“Associates teach in such a way that students can’t help but connect with them. Having worked with or been a student of three of them myself, I’ve seen it firsthand. These teachers believe fundamentally that school is for learning and for learning more than what you’ll be assessed on. They want their students to leave the classroom feeling like they are grounded as human beings, rather than like they’ve been trained to answer exam questions.”
– Kate Turner, Student, Lake Tuggeranong College, Australian Capital Territory