Achievement First Employee Reviews about "achievement first"
Updated Sep 1, 2021
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Found 61 of over 723 reviews
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Fatimah Barker
46 Ratings
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Pros
Cons
- "Every minute of the day is scheduled for you and you have little autonomy over anything." (in 8 reviews)
- "School hires incompetent Management who have no real experience in education and educating student of color." (in 8 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.
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This rating reflects the overall rating of Achievement First and is not affected by filters.
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Reviews about "achievement first"
Return to all Reviews- Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Achievement First offers a variety of approaches to professional development for new teachers.
Cons
It can feel like a toxic work environment at times.
- Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Achievement First trains you on what's really important: classroom management and how to create/deliver a lesson. As a TIR it's very hands on and you can see everything you need to do in person (or by example). We help distribute school breakfast and lunch daily and observe classes with our time in between. We help teachers by making copies and managing the class as well so that the load is lighter. Gradually over time, TIRs take more responsibility in the classroom and should be prepared to teach by the end of the year. Earlier work shift: Yes this might sound like a bad thing but the bright side is that you get WAY MORE DONE earlier in the day than later. Parking and traffic isn't as bad so as soon as you get used to getting up earlier, it's great. It's become a wonderful new habit I developed this year.
Cons
It is an earlier work day and longer than 8 hours (9 hour shift). If you start as a TIR, it doesn't mean that you will stay as a TIR for a full year. When the need is met, you can be offered a teaching position, which is great! However, depending on the person, you might feel rushed into it. But thankfully there's always two teachers for each class so you won't be alone! My school is great, and I love being here but I know it's not the same across the board for other schools.
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
I have been with Achievement First since 2012. I honestly cannot imagine working anywhere else. I was formally a dean and recently transitioned back into the classroom. AF has always felt like home. I've worked with two principals in my time here and both have gone above and beyond to value me as a teacher and individual. We work with some of the brightest students in Brooklyn and am thankful for the opportunity to teach them. Through the years our school and network have worked very hard to ensure this work is more sustainable, but let's face it, teaching is hard, especially teaching well. If you want to work at a place that values you, values your time and pushes kids to continue to be better, AF is definitely the place to be.
Cons
Tough to be successful as a first year teacher if you don't put in the time to practice and improve. Although getting better (especially since I started in 2012), work life balance continues to be tought to strike.
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Achievement First is a network that embodies know better, do better and strives to be an antiracist organization. If you are looking for a school with room to grow, Achievement First is a good place to do that.
Cons
The hours can be long, and the work intense, especially your first years there.
- Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Multiple opportunities for growth and a supportive team behind you at all times
RecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
As a lead teacher who started as a teacher-in-residence, I had multiple coaches who coached me on how to become a better instructor, make my curriculum more rigorous, implement structures and routines for students in order to set culture in the classroom, and how to manage my time to be the most effective. As a teacher coming into this network as a "student", I felt welcomed, appreciated, and a part of a team. I truly do love my job, and care for my students even more.
Cons
Achievement First is still a growing network, and with growth comes some growing pains. Communication from top (management) down (teachers and non-instructional staff) can sometimes get muddled, and while feedback is always well intentioned, it doesn't always appear that way. This is both between teacher-to-teacher and management-to-teacher. As a network, we are slowly getting better.
Continue reading - Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Achievement First is invested in the personal and professional growth of their scholars and employees both! As an employee, I feel emotionally safe and supported by my team. The leadership team works diligently to create growth mindset among the team. Ultimately, AF pours into their employees so in return, we can pour into our scholars.
Cons
No huge cons for me. In my role, I found myself not completely understanding the responsibilities of my role and how it lives at our school. This was quickly fixed when I asked for clarity.
Continue reading - Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Education is broken in the United States. While no one has figured it out, my teammates at Achievement First are doing their best to make it happen for the kids and communities we serve. The people who work here are smart, dedicated and hard-working. They are committed to working together, even when it is hard, and even when we make mistakes, to show what is possible for the amazing students in our schools.
Cons
It is just hard work and we are always learning and evolving, so you need to like fast-paced change
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Teachers who truly care about students and believe that all children are capable of success.
Cons
The strict code of discipline is socially and emotionally damaging to students. Students are allowed no agency and, when the time comes for children to make their own decisions, they don't know how to make good choices. Student test scores take precedence over educating the whole child. The prescriptive curriculum leaves very little room for differentiation. Teachers have no autonomy and cannot make decisions that will benefit their students if it does not fall into the strict guidelines. The organization claims to be anti-racist but does not use culturally-responsive practices. If the goal of Achievement First schools is to prepare students for success in college, they are failing. These schools are not socially or emotionally preparing students for college and career. Students were not encouraged to collaborate, which is an essential skill in college and beyond. As a teacher here, I felt like my thoughts didn't matter. I felt that I knew my students well and could anticipate their needs, but I was not allowed to do what I knew would be best for their academic and social-emotional learning. It felt like despite my research, degrees, and prior experiences, I was not trusted to do my job.
Continue readingThank you for sharing, and I’m really sorry to read your post. The most important part of AF is our people - and we frequently hear that we stand out because of how much we value our teachers and leaders - and I hate that this was not your experience. I want to address a few of the issues you named, but I would also welcome the chance to connect with you and learn more. If you’re open to continuing the conversation please email me at tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org. Achievement First is dedicated to anti-racism, in fact Leading For Racial Equity is the first of our core values. This school year, we’ve greatly increased our focus on improving student experience - ensuring our schools capture a sense of belief, belonging, joy, and strong relationships- because that is who we want to be as an organization, and because it is key to achieving racial equity. Our job is to prepare our students to achieve their big dreams, and that’s why college acceptance and persistence is so important to us. Our students’ six-year college graduation rate is almost six times the national average for students from low-income families. And we’re working hard to ensure that rate grows until it equals, then surpasses, the graduation rate of our country’s most affluent students. The Wall Street Journal recently covered some of our work in this area here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/charter-schools-keep-tabs-on-grads-to-keep-them-in-college-11577365200. I’m glad you felt that you could share this with us, and I hope you take the opportunity to reach out to me via email. We want every single one of our teachers to feel empowered, and your feedback will help us get there.
- Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
This school and network are big on feedback. That being said, they take feedback for the network themselves and the even the leadership team for their schools to make it a place that shows growth and trust in their employees. In my particular school, they are putting great emphasis on school culture to create a positive working environment. As a new employee for Achievement First, it makes me feel valued and welcomed seeing changes going in a positive direction from their former years!
Cons
It is not for those that are not hard workers! Doing your job, and doing it well, takes a lot of time and effort. You need to stay on top of your work or things can pile up very quickly, such as emails!
- Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Pros
Achievement First schools provide you with full curriculum and lesson plans which makes it easier to have a work life balance. They also have LOTS of support whenever you need it. The principals are really involved, the coaches and deans are required to help and support teachers.
Cons
Working at Achievement First can be physically and mentally draining but that can be said about any teaching job. The key is to build the experience and get to know all there is about your grade and content so that things can get easier.
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