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      Achievement First

      Engaged Employer

      Achievement First reviews

      3.1

      35% would recommend to a friend

      (999 total reviews)
      avatar

      Fatimah Barker

      39% approve of CEO

      21% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Achievement First has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 999 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Achievement First employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      999 reviews
      4.0
      Mar 19, 2017

      Working at AF

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      -The school Operations teams are amazing and really helpful! They do a lot of the work teachers would have to do in public schools (i.e. make attendance calls, print and distribute school newsletters, set up testing materials, re-stock supply rooms, etc.). -Overall the people who choose to work at AF schools are dedicated to the job and share a passion for working with kids to help them achieve their best. -The pay (and teacher career pathway) is significantly better than other schools (district, magnets, and even other charters). -The network is working to improve areas that will lead to greater teacher sustainability, and, what has been implemented so far has been very helpful and effective. -Supplies and materials necessary (from paper to tissues to computers for students) are provided by the network. -Teachers have coaches who observe, provide feedback, and support them weekly to bi-weekly.

      Cons

      -There's no ELL support, and, in some schools, the SPED support is lacking or ineffective, which can be frustrating for teachers and families. -Leadership Team staff aren't always effective in their roles - more could be done to ensure that LT members are properly trained and held accountable, not just pushed into the role because they were effective teachers within AF. -While most school PDs are helpful, they could be better differentiated to ensure that all staff (new and veteran teachers) receive the most effective professional development. -There could be a closer connection between staff who work in the schools and staff who work at the network (these roles often seem completely isolated).

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      9y
      Thanks for taking the time to provide the honest and candid feedback above. I appreciate you showing the love to our school operations teams. Too many teachers across the country are still buying their own pencils and making copy runs. We believe that strong ops teams, when able to focus on all non-instructional projects in the building, allow teachers to put their full weight and brain power into being intellectually prepared and planned for rigorous lessons. Ensuring our students with disabilities and our English Language Learners succeed is top of mind for us as well, and we are taking steps to get it right. Our schools are prioritizing hiring dedicated special educators and ELL teachers to work with students who need extra support. We also offer a scholarship for general educators who desire to become special educators (because we know there just aren’t enough great special educators!). Additionally, next year we are opening a specialized, intensive program to help our most struggling scholars - AF Bushwick Empower Program. Empower will be a specialized program within a school with around 36 scholars and 8 teachers. Students will receive tailored academic support in small groups with qualified special education teachers. We’re confident that this new program will give our students with disabilities the instruction they need to reach their fullest potential. We are excited about the innovative approach we are taking with special education, but we don’t pretend to know all the answers. We do, though, know that we are making strides to ensure that every single one of our scholars can achieve. Thanks again for sharing your feedback! -Christina Braganza, Vice President, Team Special Services
      4.0
      Mar 15, 2017

      Passionate teachers & leaders

      Middle school science teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - pushes you to want more from yourself, meaning you find out your true work ethic - you meet some outstandingly wonderful children and you help change their lives in so many different ways. - the new improvements to lesson resources has allowed teachers to focus on rigour - The leadership team is constantly looking for ways for you to improve

      Cons

      - to be honest very long days, not the conventional school day - at times the work load can be a bit much - if people who can't handle the work load join the team and leave it does stress the other teachers on that grade team so if you can't handle the work load or are easily "broken" by middle schoolers apply to high school or elementary because middle schoolers are a bit more tough.

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      9y
      Hi there, thanks for sharing your feedback! It’s heartening to hear how effective you have found the daily lesson resources. You named one of the impacts of the resources: more rigor for kids. But we also knew it would be a way to make teaching more sustainable for adults and over 90% of our teachers have found the resources to be helpful. No doubt the days are still long and there is a heavy workload for many teachers. It’s often taking too long (years) for teachers to achieve good balance, and even then it’s never easy. Some schools are doing a stronger job than others. Still - we’re convinced this is a key issue in our movement and are committed to making progress on this every year. It was lesson plans this year, and next year it’s a host of solutions (that our teachers helped us design). We hosted a Hackathon with network teachers and leaders to put our collective brains together to tackle this very issue. We created solutions on testing week design, sub-coverage, vacation-timing in Connecticut, and several other “1%” solutions. Bottom line: we’re not going to stop trying to make it easier (and not harder) for our teachers to stay in the classroom longer. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer
      4.0
      Mar 15, 2017

      Achievement First Connecticut

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The best part of working at AF is the people you work with. Everyone has a common goal and a similar belief that all students can achieve at high levels. This has not been the case at other schools/districts I've worked. The network also works hard to ensure you're provided with all of the materials and resources you need (and students need) to be successful. There are also many opportunities for teacher leadership from grade-level chair to coaching, etc. Leadership also works hard to make these opportunities available to those who are interested.

      Cons

      The job is hard, and while the network is working on sustainability, it's still an issue. I also think that teachers could be more valued in the network. There are subtle signals that more is done to keep leaders around than teachers.

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