Wendy Kopp
Wendy Kopp
Wendy Sue Koppis the CEO and Co-Founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent nonprofit organizations working to expand educational opportunity in their own countries and the Founder of Teach For America, a national teaching corps...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth29 June 1967
CountryUnited States of America
change closer home life problem senior solve teach trying
When I started Teach For America, I wasn't trying to come up with an idea that would change the world. I was trying to solve a problem much closer to home: I was a senior in college, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life!
alone assumed countries education handle ignore largely left nation problems tackled
Countries have largely been left alone to handle or ignore their educational problems as they see fit. In part, this was because we assumed that the contexts and challenges were so different from nation to nation that education could not be tackled at the international level.
country education higher lack problem tackle
The lack of diversity in higher education is a problem we as a country must tackle if we're going to live up to our promise.
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Kids who live in low income areas face extra challenges and show up at schools that were not designed to meet their extra needs.
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Kids in urban and rural areas face so many challenges, and they show up at schools that don't have the extra capacity or extra resources to meet their needs.
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Tests that sugar-coat the truth only set up our kids to fail in worse ways down the road.
definition extend interest neighbors
We must broaden the definition of who our neighbors are, and extend the boundaries of our interest and empathy.
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We're trying to be the top employer of recent grads in the country. Size gives us leverage to have a tangible impact on school systems.
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We believe strongly in transparency and accountability, which is why Teach For America encourages rigorous independent evaluations of our program. Our mission is too important to operate in any other way.
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We aspire to be equal opportunity, but all across the country where a student is born, their race, their class affect where they end up.
given highest kids met supports
When kids are met with the highest expectations and given the extra supports they need, they can be as motivated as kids anywhere.
achievement build close folks force gap kids leadership survive teacher trajectory
We are working essentially to build a leadership force of folks who will, during their first two years of teaching, actually put their kids on a different trajectory - not just survive as a new teacher, but actually help close the achievement gap for their kids.
affect change climate collective countries health issues public
We collaborate with other countries on issues like public health and climate change because we understand these issues affect our collective welfare.
basically points selection teachers trait
We've done a lot of research on the characteristics of our teachers who are the most successful. The most predictive trait is still past demonstrated achievement, and all selection research basically points to that.