Marion native is teaching for America

Staff report

Marion native Larry Bowman Jr., a 2007 graduate of Marion Senior High School and 2011 graduate of Dartmouth College, will teach for two years in a high-needs Alabama community with Teach For America’s 2011 corps.
Bowman was one of three valedictorians in his class.
Teach For America is the national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity.
Teach For America said its talent pool this year was the most competitive ever. Nearly 48,000 individuals applied, and 11 percent were accepted. Twelve percent of applicants were Ivy League seniors, 10 percent were seniors at Howard University, 8 percent were from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and 5 percent were from the University of Texas at Austin.
Bowman joins Teach For America’s incoming corps of 5,200 new teachers. These corps members earned an average undergraduate GPA of 3.6, and all held leadership positions while in college.
“This year’s incoming corps members represent a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, but they share extraordinary leadership ability and a deep commitment to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential,” said Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach For America. “We are excited to be channeling the energy of such a diverse corps into teaching in urban and rural public schools and into the long-term effort to achieve educational excellence and equity.”
Teach for America said the diversity of the 2011 corps reflects the organization’s focus on recruiting individuals who share the racial and socioeconomic backgrounds of the students it reaches. One-third of incoming corps members identify as people of color, including 12 percent who are African American and 8 percent who are Hispanic. Twenty-two percent are the first in their family to graduate from college, and nearly one-third received Pell Grants. Twenty-three percent are graduate students or professionals.
Teach for America said a growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members in the classroom. Recent studies from Louisiana (www.nctq.org/docs/TFA_Louisiana_study.PDF), North Carolina (www.teachforamerica.org/newsroom/documents/20100408_University.of.North.Carolina.Study.htm), and Tennessee (www.tn.gov/sbe/teacherreportcard2010.htm) found that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. The Tennessee study identified Teach For America as the most effective of the state’s 42 teacher-preparation programs, with corps members demonstrating a greater impact on student achievement than the average new teacher in every evaluated subject area.
Teach For America said two-thirds of the organization’s alumni are working full-time in the field, with more than 550 alumni serving as school principals or school system leaders.