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      Achievement First

      Engaged Employer

      Achievement First reviews

      3.0

      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 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 999 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average 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
      2.0
      Nov 12, 2018

      Run

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Coaching Feedback given often to improve

      Cons

      Long hours Oppressive system for kids

      1.0
      Jul 16, 2017

      Teacher

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Good pay and some of the nicest students I've ever taught were here.

      Cons

      There is little to no work life balance with Achievement First. My first year there they attempted to find ways to help teachers balance the workload and their personal lives but after that did not work the next year they simple banned teachers in our school from using the phrase "work life balance". You will be run ragged at this school and despite making some monumental academic achievements with the students you will be made to feel like you still haven't done enough. Some of the best teachers I've ever worked with were at AF, but many of the worst teachers I've ever worked with were there also. On multiple occassions other teachers made disparaging comments about other employees to not only the students but other teachers also. In several of the cases the comments were overlooked by the administration because the teacher who made the comments was a "highly performing teacher". This was a huge morale killer and ultimately made coming to work each day that much harder.

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      8y
      Thank you for sharing your experience and - if you haven't already – I would love it if you could share that feedback directly with your former principal (especially if they are still with Achievement First). Work/Life Balance is clearly a significant challenge facing AF (and I would argue, the movement broadly). I promise you it’s not one we’re trying to solve with semantics. First, I think it’s important for all Glassdoor readers to know that there is a trade-off to doing this work at AF. It’s hard. I continue to spend more hours working than many of my friends. But unlike many of my friends, I don’t see those hours as just “work hours” that are separate from my life. They are spent with people I love doing work that is deeply meaningful to me. But that’s a personal perspective. And the reality is that so many of our people DO feel the tension between being their best selves personally and professionally. Our organization, and I, believe the movement will not succeed if we can’t keep making progress in helping people stay in it longer. And that goes so far beyond lip service for us. We’re in the middle of huge a 2-year investment to create lessons that teachers can use in every subject and grade, so that we never again have teachers spending hours every day starting from scratch in planning excellent lessons. It’s why we held a hackathon with our teachers to identify and create solutions for things getting in their way. And it’s why we’re already trying to figure out what our next changes will be in 2017-2018. We’re not going to fundamentally change what it takes to succeed in this movement, but by listening to our people and continuing to make changes I believe that we can make it a lot easier for people to stay and succeed. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer
      1.0
      Apr 30, 2017

      Don't Trust the Positive Reviews -- They were Mandated

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Good resources Some cool colleagues Lots of money for swag for teachers. If you're into propaganda and consumerism.

      Cons

      80+ hour work week minimum Constant mean-spirited criticism; very judgmental and power hungry young bosses If you know anything about education, expect to be dismissed by 25 year old principals who are threatened by you. Horrible mistreatment of both staff and students. Students are expected to act like inmates at a prison -- silent at all times, they are punished if they break eye contact with their teacher, they are not trusted at all. Shows complete lack of respect for People of Color by mostly white admin Children with special needs are not given the support needed. This is swept under the rug. Leadership does not have the experience or the education to do their job well. Teachers are expected to "obey" (just like the students are), not to think. Creativity is not encouraged. (or allowed). If you want to treat children as individuals, this is not the place for you. You are expected to use "one size fits all" management techniques on all children regardless of the circumstances. The kids come to hate and resent this. As they should. Teachers burn out fast. Turn over is obscene. Just not a professional environment at all compared to public school.

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      9y
      Yikes. This review was both troubling and sad to read. Clearly something (or many things) went deeply off the rails here. In the past, I have benefited when reviewers have reached out to have an honest conversation with me about experiences that went deeply wrong. And every time, I learn from them. That invitation is certainly extended here, and my email address is tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org. For other Glassdoor readers, I do want to make some clarifications: 1) As an organization, we welcome feedback. We thrive on it. Even when it stings or seems extreme, there is truth in every perspective and we benefit from it. Whether in person, in a survey, over email, or on Glassdoor – we frequently ask our people for feedback and we take it in all forms. 2) We don’t “mandate” people to write Glassdoor reviews. I’m not actually sure how we would do that if we wanted to but worth stating it for the record nonetheless. 3) Other stuff that is matter of record: we have 32 schools and principals. Half of them identify as people of color (none are 25 years old :) ) – which signals a lack of diversity to us because almost all of our kids and families identify. Every year the vast majority of our teachers stay with us (we’re on track for approximately 80% from this year to next year). It’s not enough, but we’re working on it. 4) I don’t want to respond point by point to the view of our student culture presented in this review. But anyone considering applying for a teaching position at AF will also get to visit the school and spend as much time as they want seeing it for themselves, which we think is a very important part of the process. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer
      Viewing 67 - 69 of 999 Reviews
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      ReviewsAchievement First reviews

      Glassdoor has 1,021 Achievement First reviews submitted anonymously by Achievement First employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Achievement First is right for you.