Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Inexperience is an asset. Embrace it.
I usually don't really have breakfast.
I'm happy to admit that I'm a hopeless optimist.
People are everything in education, just as in the corporate world.
School boards can be a steppingstone to higher forms of political leadership.
Where educational deprivation exists, it breeds conflict and enables repression.
Tests that sugar-coat the truth only set up our kids to fail in worse ways down the road.
Teach For America is working hard to be one significant source of the leadership we need.
We go around and talk about what are each of the kids most proud of from the previous week.
Education must be the only sector that hasn't already been completely revolutionized by technology.
Our laws guarantee all students the right to a K-12 education, regardless of their immigration status.
The teachers are trying to build the same culture in the classroom as we're building in the organization.
We must broaden the definition of who our neighbors are, and extend the boundaries of our interest and empathy.
Few things are more important to our country's future than recruiting and keeping great teachers in our schools.
It gets to whether we're a teacher-education model or a movement for social justice. I would say we're about the latter.
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.
A core part of Teach For America's mission has always been affecting positive change in the traditional public school system.
Kids who live in low income areas face extra challenges and show up at schools that were not designed to meet their extra needs.
Every time a child's promise is cut short by their legal status, our country wastes precious resources and loses talent we need.
When kids are met with the highest expectations and given the extra supports they need, they can be as motivated as kids anywhere.
If we freed up all the money in the certification process, think about how much more money we'd have to put into teacher salaries.
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.
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.
There's no how-to guide for how to change the world. But it's easy to get hung up by misconceptions about what it takes to make an impact.
It's possible to train great people, but a person with great training who doesn't have certain characteristics is only going to go so far.
In a society that glorifies the pioneers, it's easy to think that an endeavor is only worth pursuing if you can be the first to pursue it.
Dartmouth is such a special college with its rich history, dedicated student body, and, as I've been learning more recently, colorful customs.
Our experience at Teach For America has been that the more people understand educational inequity, the more they want to do something about it.
Ending educational inequality is going to require systemic change and a long-term, sustained effort. There are no shortcuts and no silver bullets.
Let the tech firms and consulting firms build your skills, but be sure to ask yourself, 'Am I maximizing my impact?' 'Am I living up to my values?'
We're not trying to be the only route into teaching. We do put enormous energy into understanding what differentiates the most successful teachers.
We collaborate with other countries on issues like public health and climate change because we understand these issues affect our collective welfare.
Teach For China recruits top American and Chinese college graduates, like 26-year-old Yang Xiao, to teach in the country's most disadvantaged schools.
In every case where I've seen a transformational school, there's a principal who really has the foundational experience of having taught successfully.
The idea that computers can ever replace teachers and schools reveals a deep lack of understanding about the role leadership plays in student success.
I've heard a number of our alumni - people who are running schools and school systems - think a lot about different models for the teaching profession.
Effective teacher support in my mind is the same thing as effective management. Our teachers need strong management, just like anyone in any profession.
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.
It's Teach For America's responsibility to ensure that all alumni know their voices are heard and valued, and to surface the range of opinion they represent.
Persistent inequality costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars a year, undermining our global competitiveness, our democracy, and our ideals as a nation.
Education is the most powerful tool countries have for boosting economic growth, increasing prosperity, and forging more just, peaceful and equitable societies.
If we're going to see sustainable results from all the other investments we're making in education, we need to build leadership capacity in each and every country.
I think Teach for America has suffered from the fact that I did not teach, in a major way. I also think if I had taught, I wouldn't have started Teach for America.
Technology has enormous potential to address educational needs more efficiently, help teachers improve their performance, and enrich and individualize student learning.
It's time to declare a cease-fire in the education arms race. We have far more to gain from collaborating to solve our common problems than competing for higher rankings.
All around the world, we send our top talent into finance, technology, medicine and law - everywhere but towards expanding opportunity for our most marginalized children.
Competition and competitive rhetoric can be healthy. It's what drove the United States to pursue the Soviet Union into space, creating countless innovations along the way.
If the world's leaders are serious about improving collective well-being, we'd better get serious about prioritizing education in our nations and in our global discussion.
Fostering the leadership necessary for transformational outcomes in education is hard work, and in countries around the world, there is a constant search for easier solutions.
Some people seem to sort of have a gut for hiring. I literally had a gut that was exactly the opposite. So whenever I thought someone would be great, it was sort of the opposite.